Referendum Legal Fight
In December the developer of Oak Grove filed a lawsuit naming the City of Pleasanton and the petition gathers seeking to invalidate the petitions. The lawsuit alleged the petition did not contain the full text of the ordinance, the petition gathers made false statements and the City's "poison pill" was invalid.
The case was heard on February 22, 2008 in Alameda Superior Court. On March 20, 2008 the judge issued his ruling. He ruled that false statements and the poison pill were not reasons to invalidate the petitions, but he ruled that the full text of the ordinance was not attached and therefore the petitions signed the residents were invalid.
The facts:
California Election Code 9238. (a) Across the top of each page of the referendum petition there shall be printed the following: "Referendum Against an Ordinance Passed by the City Council" (b) Each section of the referendum petition shall contain (1) the identifying number or title, and (2) the text of the ordinance or the portion of the ordinance that is the subject of the referendum
The text that was attached to the petitions was the exact text as prepared by the City Attorney, signed by the mayor and filed by the clerk in the binder of City ordinances.
The developer claimed the petition should have also contained the thousands of pages and drawings noted by the ordinance as being "on file with the Planning Department".
Why the judge agreed with the developer is a mystery, but the ruling has been appealed. Hopefully the Appeal Court will look at what was attached and the Election Code and come to the right conclusion.
9000 sq ft home in the Oakland Hills. Is this what we want on our ridges?
This home is only 2 stories, imagine another story and 30% larger! The developer says this looks like an office building, but it is just a very large house on a ridge.
Learn the facts about the flyer
The glossy flyer sent Pleasanton residents shows the current hills, but what will happen to those hills and trees if Oak Grove is built? Click here
What can you do?
Volunteer
If you are interested in helping save Pleasanton's ridgelines, please email us.
Donate to Save the Hills
We need funds to promote the initiative to save Pleasanton's Hills. If you would like to donate, please send a check to:
Save Pleasanton Hills
4515 Gatetree Cr.
Pleasanton, CA 94566
or
Donate with PayPal
click here