Town Hall Meeting on LAFCO’s Report

Dear Editor,

Many letters to the editor question the motives and the group's makeup that invited the community to a July 23rd Town Hall meeting on LAFCO’s report on the feasibility of incorporation. These individuals who recently questioned our motivation did not stay for the entire session. Our group consists of your neighbors. We started as a group chatting amongst ourselves about these issues. We thought the discussion merited a broader debate in the community. We are committed to the community knowing the facts. Our approach to this research is to learn. Our agenda is to deliver information to the citizens of Castro Valley.

Let us not be distracted in our quest to gather and understand the information in the report. We invite you to visit our website Castrovalleycity.com.  You will find our names. We invite you to discuss your concerns with us via the website.  You will find it on our website. We are all volunteers. We will endeavor to respond more quickly to your questions.  We are all unpaid volunteers with other jobs. Yes, I am one of those unpaid volunteers doing the research.

To our surprise, close to 200 people came to participate in the discussion.

The discussion on Sunday was a " listening session" and not a debate about the pros and cons of incorporation. It is too early to take a position on this matter.  First, we will look at the level of service that the report indicates Castro Valley should have and compare this to what we currently receive. If we pay for services, we do not receive; we should not apologize for seeking what we deserve. Your neighbors at Castro Valley City are advocating for local control. Still, the we determine if the county revenues currently collected from Castro Valley residents can sustain local authority.

At the end of the town hall meeting, each facilitator summarized what they learned from the community members who participated in the breakout sessions.

In the following months, we will continue to report our findings on this subject via our website Castrovalleycity.com. We will continue to explore the facts as presented in this report.  We currently have some questions about the revenue assumptions made in the report. Cities that may not mirror Castro Valley are the source of this report's revenues.

–Linda Tangren, Castro Valley