Local Issues
by John M. Zukoski on December 12, 2011 | 
No Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Opinions
Workers in Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore, CA have enjoyed a $1K-$2K payroll tax cut this year thanks to a 2% credit on everyone’s social security contribution. Unfortunately, while most Republicans and Democrats agree that the tax cut should be extended for 2012, Congress is using the payroll tax credit as a bargaining chip to score points on other partisan issues. Voters may be in a foul mood come November 2012, if Congress fails to reach a compromise by the end of this year.
This outcome could be disastrous for the Measure B sales tax measure proponents, who plan to use the extra sales tax funds on various transportation-related projects in Alameda County. The current distribution of the expected sales tax revenue from this county ballot measure includes $20M for the I-580/I-680 interchange improvements project to ease daily commutes, $400M for BART to Livermore Phase I, and over $25M on road and multi-modal pathway projects throughout Dublin.
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by John M. Zukoski on December 11, 2011 | 13 Comments | Topics: Announcements · Local Issues · Opinions
Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD), a public agency charged with providing water and sewer services to Dublin, San Ramon, and Pleasanton, recently drew tremendous public outrage when its board of directors approved obscene compensation packages that included one-quarter-million dollars in bonuses to DSRSD’s top brass. The excessive bonuses have been financed by a series of rate hikes at a time when families and local businesses can least afford them. Nearly 100 residents sent emails in protest.
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by John M. Zukoski on December 5, 2011 | 3 Comments | Topics: Announcements · City Hall · Local Issues
During the next two months Dublin Police Services will be deploying extra staff to conduct a Holiday Crime Suppression Detail in Dublin, CA. The operation will target crime trends that are common during the holiday season. The increase in staff will include marked and unmarked patrol vehicles, officers on foot patrol as well as bicycles. The holidays are a special time of year and a time when busy people forget to be careful about their property and personal safety. As a result, people are especially vulnerable to theft and other crimes.
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by John M. Zukoski on December 2, 2011 | 11 Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Opinions
California’s 18th District Assemblymember Mary Hayashi represents Dublin and most of Pleasanton. Two months ago, the State lawmaker from Castro Valley was caught shoplifting merchandise worth nearly $2,500 from San Francisco’s Neiman Marcus store at Union Square. While Maroon 5′s Adam Levine may have moves like Jagger, Hayashi apparently has “sticky fingers” like Winona Ryder. Hayashi, whose husband Dennis is an Alameda County Superior Court judge, said that the incident was “a mistake and a misunderstanding” and has used the “Texting Defense” to plead not guilty to felony grand theft for shoplifting a Rihanna-esque black leather skirt, leather pants, and a white blouse. Hayashi claims that she was distractedly texting on one of her two cell phones when she unconsciously walked out the front door of Neiman Marcus with stuffed shopping bags that she reportedly brought from home.
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by John M. Zukoski on December 1, 2011 | 8 Comments | Topics: City Hall · Development · Local Issues
Even without the annexation of Doolan Canyon, which will effectively increase the size of East Dublin by 50%, the City of Dublin is guaranteed to have more homes than originally called for in the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan. The City of Dublin requires developers to allocate half an acre of Public/Semi-Public land for every 150 single family homes or 250 multi-family units. With the help of Dublin’s City Council and Staff, developers will soon be able to turn a handsome profit by rezoning all the remaining Public/Semi-Public parcels into residential land.
Dublin has already pre-approved such land use conversions before when it scrapped the plan to build the second high school in East Dublin ten years ago. Once the decision was made to change the second high school to a middle school, the developer was able to rezone the remaining parcel to residential use and build what is known as Sonata at Dublin Ranch today.
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by John M. Zukoski on November 30, 2011 | 2 Comments | Topics: City Hall · Local Issues
The All-American City of Dublin, CA is about to join other cities across America in paying tribute to the Historic Lincoln Highway. Prior to the interstate highway network that was built out during President Eisenhower’s administration, the Old Lincoln Highway was considered to be the “Main Street Across America.” The Dublin Historical Preservation Association (DHPA) recently provided the impetus to encourage the City of Dublin to sponsor the Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) by offering to cover the costs of buying and installing four Lincoln Highway historical signs in Dublin.
According to DHPA President Steve Lockhart, husband of former Dublin mayor Janet Lockhart, the locations of the signs will be installed along the Dublin Boulevard corridor within a block or so of the intersections at Dougherty Road and Donlon Way. No signs will be installed in East Dublin.
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by John M. Zukoski on November 29, 2011 | 2 Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Opinions · Retail
For many shoppers, the only thing more interesting than Black Friday’s door-busting low prices are the stories of Black Friday’s tramplings, shootings, and other bad behaviors that ensue when shoppers “stop being polite and start getting real.” According to Kit Yarrow, a consumer research psychologist who teaches at Golden Gate University, the knowledge that “only the strongest are going to be able to get the bargain is what causes that desperation people feel.” To the victor go the spoils indeed.
America’s largest retailer Walmart had its share of madness this past Black Friday when a group was robbed and one person shot in the San Leandro Walmart parking lot, a Southern California woman allegedly pepper-sprayed fellow shoppers to secure an Xbox 360 with Kinect, and one unfortunate shopper unintentionally mooned the camera in what will be known as the Waffle Riot of 2011. Unlike its sister stores, the Walmart in Livermore, CA was a model of civility and consideration this past Black Friday as shoppers worked together to secure great bargains without gun shots or pepper-spraying.
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by Around Dublin Team on November 21, 2011 | 5 Comments | Topics: Development · Local Issues · Schools
The founders of Tassajara Preparatory High School, a public charter school expected to open Fall 2012 in Dublin, CA, recently announced their intentions to claim 30 acres of land at the future Dublin Crossing development for its permanent campus. Located directly across Dublin Boulevard from the East Dublin BART Station, the 180-acre parcel will be developed by SunCal into a mixed-use community that will include 1,500 new housing units. “We wanted to wait to make the formal announcement until after Lawrence Berkeley National Lab rejected the Dublin Crossing site for its second campus project,” said Dublin parent Rully Kusuma, one of the founders of Tassajara Prep.
Tassajara Prep’s 30-acre campus is expected to be nestled among the thousands of homes, extensive city parklands, and abundant campus office sites planned for the new development. “The central location of Dublin Crossing and proximity to the BART station will be ideal for high school students throughout Dublin and beyond,” said Jimmy Huang, another founder of Tassajara Prep. “We anticipate that many of the businesses at Dublin Crossing will also become valued private-sector partners in Tassajara Prep’s College Pathways program.”
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by John M. Zukoski on November 16, 2011 | 4 Comments | Topics: Development · Local Issues
Alameda County recently received approval from Dublin’s City Council for an 18-month extension to begin construction at the East County Hall of Justice site on Gleason Drive behind the Summerglen community in Dublin, CA. Delays at the Hall of Justice have been primarily due to the unexpected discovery and required removal of underground pipes filled with toxic waste left by the U.S. military when the site was owned by the armed forces. When asked by Dublin City Council, Assistant County Administrator Donna Linton also noted that the full-service courthouse project is facing challenges, “because it involves the (Alameda) County government, as well as State government and the (California) Superior Court.” Linton alluded to subsequent delays in working through the agreement and securing funding.
While many planned courthouses throughout the state have been put on hold and courthouses currently in operation have received severe funding cuts, Linton reassured the Dublin City Council that Alameda County has every intention of moving forward with the project and that funding for construction of the complex has been secured.
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