Effort Planned to Derail Opposition To
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VOLUME XLVIII, NUMBER 50 Your Local News Source Since 1963 SERVING LIVERMORE • PLEASANTON • SUNOL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011 Effort Planned to Derail Opposition to TEP Members of a steering com- The final TEP for Measure B3, before additional sales tax dollars still some wiggle room." percent for capital projects with mittee charged with creating the a countywide sales tax, would be would become available. During a meeting of the com- no funding for highways. AC Transportation Expenditure Plan voted on in November 2012. A The Alameda County Trans- mittee last week in Oakland, Transit proposes 70 percent of the (TEP) for Measure B3 will meet two-thirds vote is required to ap- portation Commission (ACTC) members of several groups in- money go towards its operations with various advocacy groups to prove the sales tax. The sales tax is scheduled to vote on the final dicated they would recommend and 30 percent would fund other try to remove opposition to the would increase from a half-cent TEP on January 26. The expen- that their members oppose the projects. spending proposal. to one cent and would become diture plan would then go to city sales tax unless the items they Several speakers from Liver- Steering committee members permanent. The current draft TEP councils throughout Alameda favor were funded. more mentioned that if a BART made it clear that funding for covers a twenty year period. At County for approval. A coalition of groups called extension to Livermore were not BART to Livermore would re- the end of that period, a new TEP Steering Committee Chair- Community Vision wants 80 on the list for funds it would be Find Out What's main in the plan. However, they would be developed. man Mark Green, mayor of percent of the money spent on unlikely that Livermore residents would work with groups to make If BART to Livermore missed Union City, pointed out that the bike and walking trails, local would vote to tax themselves for Happening a few minor tweaks in the TEP to the November 2012 B3, the proj- plan is a compromise that accom- streets and roads, and operat- years to come without funds for Check out the address some of the concerns. ect would have to wait 20 years modates many needs. "There is ing funds for public transit; 20 (See SPENDING, page 4) second section Section II is filled with in- formation about arts, entertain- ment and special events. There are education stories, a variety Law Helps of features, and the arts and en- tertainment and bulletin board. Listed below are just a few of the Cities Curb events happening in the Valley. Vacant Home 103-Year-Old Neglect Members of condominium homeowners associations who Home May find their dues suddenly skyrock- eting because of defaults in their Be Saved development may have a way to A 103-year-old craftsman- bring the cost under control. style bungalow set to be demol- SB 1137, passed in 2008, has ished to make way for a 13-home several provisions in response to development on Old Stanley the housing market that was cre- Boulevard may have gotten a ated by a high number of defaults reprieve. on condos and single family At Tuesday's Pleasanton City homes beginning in that year. Council meeting, Paul Martin, Danville resident Ellis Gold- speaking for the developers, berg, who leads the Tri-Valley Donato Builders Inc., said that Democratic Club, is trying to he had met with Linda Garbarino promote public awareness of the to discuss the future of the home. laws's provisions that can help "We realized that we had a lot in condominium owners. common. After some thought, Ellis said it is his own project, we came up with the idea to find not one from the club. He calls it an alternative site for the home Photo - Doug Jorgensen the Foreclosure Deterrent Proj- rather than tear it down." ect. Material about it is available Garbarino, a member of the A Brownie Troop marched in the annual Pleasanton Holiday Parade. For more photos of December festivities, see page 8. at the Democratic Club's web Pleasanton Heritage Association, stated, "This is not just a one time page at trivalleydems.com. opportunity to accomplish some- Ellis became aware of the thing positive. We believe that Proposed Name for New Element problem when his daughter, who working together that we can set lives in a condo in Fremont, saw an example for similar situations her homeowners association in the future." dues jump from $250 per month Councilmember Jerry Thorne Reflects Research Collaboration to $400. commented, "I appreciate the By Jeff Garberson Pure and Applied Chemistry rec- beam of calcium nuclei. A few of The names, suggested by Goldberg said that the issue is two of you getting together and The name Livermore may ommended livermorium (symbol the nuclei coalesced into element scientists who carried out the that banks are guaranteed to be working things out." soon grace a new heavy element, Lv) as the name of element 116, 116, which quickly decayed into research and tentatively accepted made whole by federal bailout At the meeting, the council reflecting years of ground-break- a short-lived superheavy element a lighter element, 114. by a committee at the Interna- money, so they have no incentive approved the appointments to ing physics and chemistry col- created on the U400 cyclotron at The International Union pro- tional Union, now undergo five to negotiate with homeowners an ad hoc Historic Preservation laboration between Lawrence the Russian laboratory, which is posed flerovium (symbol Fl) to months of public comment and associations about continuing to Task Force. Livermore National Laboratory located north of Moscow. designate element 114, honor- review by expert referees. After pay HOA dues on the defaulted The task force will revisit and the Flerov Laboratory of The research was conducted a ing the founder of the labora- that time, the names may become properties. That results in rising selected sections of the Down- Nuclear Reactions in Russia. decade ago in experiments bom- tory where the work was accom- official. town Specific Plan and Design The International Union of barding a curium target with a plished, Georgiy Flerov. (See ELEMENT, page 4) (See LAW, page 5) Guidelines. It will then make recommendations to help clarify city policy regarding historic preservation and the development review processes in the down- Sunol Rancher Chosen for town and other areas in the city. Both Martin and Garbarino were appointed to the task force Prestigious Conservation Award along with Planning Commis- Sand County Foundation, the tionist Aldo Leopold. The award continue to thrive for future sioners Jennifer Pearce and Phil- California Farm Bureau Federa- is presented annually in eight generations." lip Blank and residents Emilie tion and Sustainable Conserva- states to private landowners who Tim Koopmann is a third- Cruzan, Gerald Hodnefield, and tion have selected Sunol rancher practice exemplary land steward- generation rancher who owns and Bonnie Krichbaum. Tim Koopmann as the 2011 ship and management. operates an 850-acre cow-calf The council established the recipient of the Leopold Conser- "Tim Koopmann's commit- operation in Sunol. The family ad hoc committee at its October vation Award in California. ment to the health of the land has been on the property since 18 meeting. The determination The sixth annual Leopold and wildlife in his family's care 1918. to review the guidelines arose Conservation Award for Cali- is exemplary. He has also made The Koopmann Ranch is following the approval of the de- fornia was presented Tuesday extraordinary improvements in considered to be an agricultural velopment on Old Stanley Blvd. at the California Farm Bureau water quality that benefit those gem surrounded by urban devel- that included the demolition of Federation Annual Meeting in on and off his ranch," said Brent opment. the 103-year-old home that now Sparks, Nev. Haglund, Sand County Founda- Koopmann's effective man- may be saved. The $10,000 Leopold Conser- tion president. "In addition, he agement practices have improved Brian Dolan, Director of Com- vation Award is named in honor has taken steps to help ensure the soil and wildlife populations munity Development, said at the of world-renowned conserva- that his land and land ethic will (See AWARD, page 4) October meeting that it had been suggested that the “words on the pages” in the guidelines may not reflect the community’s values Mall 'Occupied' by '99 Percent' Carolers when it comes to historic preser- The Valley's own version MoveOn.org, which called for the Monopoly game caricature of vation. There are key definitions of Occupy Wall Street spent the national day of action, said, a rich man with his top hat and missing. The guidelines also about 90 minutes "occupying" "We received a good reception. big cigar. He kept yelling things contain conflicting wording. the courtyard of the Stoneridge We got a lot of thumbs up from like "Get a job" at the other dem- The task force is expected to Mall. people. When we were in front of onstrators. begin its work in January 2012. The dozen or so people who the Apple store, someone joined Since this is the time of year showed up at lunch hour at the us who said that he had spent when shoppers crowd the mall to mall Dec. 1 did not pitch any some time at the Occupy Oakland buy holiday gifts, the demonstra- tents, but instead passed out pam- demonstration. tors sang some traditional carol- phlets calling attention to their The demonstrators tried to ap- ing music using political lyrics, goal of bringing the top 1 percent ply a light touch to the demonstra- instead of the usual yuletide of America's wealth more in line tion, instead of taking any action sentiments.