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With the first open seat on the Pleasant Hill City Council in six years, voters should look for candidates who will continue prudent management of the city’s fragile finances and smartly address the state’s housing requirements.
Councilman Michael Harris is stepping down after serving for 20 years. Of six candidates running for two seats, the standouts with the needed experience and knowledge are incumbent Sue Noack, seeking her third term, and Zac Shess, a nine-year member of the elected board overseeing the independent Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District.
The city faces ongoing financial challenges because of its small share of property tax revenues. Due to historical oddities of Proposition 13, the 1978 tax-cutting initiative, only 7% of property taxes collected in Pleasant Hill go back to city government, the fourth lowest percentage of Contra Costa’s 19 cities.
Consequently, Pleasant Hill depends heavily on sales-tax revenues, and its leaders must be careful about city employee compensation commitments. Unfortunately, the city’s pension plan, like most in California, is underfunded and will require steady payment increases to make up the shortfall. That is the primary cause of a projected general fund structural budget imbalance totaling more than $5 million over the next five years.
At the same time, California cities must submit plans to fulfill their required housing allocations for the next eight years. Pleasant Hill can meet its 1,800-home allotment if the council works cooperatively toward the goal.
Noack, who has an MBA, brings a keen command of the details of both the city’s finances and its housing plans. Shess, a national company marketing manager, brings his park board experience, which provides a solid foundation for both issues. Both candidates understand the need to remain fiscally cautious and to plan housing so that it’s distributed across the city as the state requires.
Of the other candidates, Bill Bankert, a manager for a health technology firm who previously served on the Planning Commission for eight years, wants the city to push back on the state mandates, a futile fight that could be costly, and lacks a strong grasp of the financial challenges.
Andrei Obolenskiy, an automotive industry entrepreneur, and Zhanna Thompson, a quality assurance director for a behavioral health care firm, have large knowledge gaps regarding the city’s financial challenges and retirement programs and no experience from serving on city committees. Daniel Rodriguez declined to participate in our interviews.
Residents who care about the city’s fiscal stability and responsibly providing housing have two, and only two, solid candidates, Noack and Shess.
