Editorial
Friday, Oct. 18, 2002

City of Castro Valley

THROUGH THE YEARS, THE bedroom community of Castro Valley has grown to a population of more than 50,000, the largest unincorporated town in Alameda County. It is time Castro Valley residents take control of their own destiny.

Hemmed in by the hills and the cities of San Leandro and Hayward and situated at the junction of two major freeways, the community can no longer afford to stay in its cocoon, hoping the immense growth running rampant throughout the rest of the Bay Area will pass it by.

Castro Valley needs a government that is more responsive to the residents. It can no longer afford to operate under the benign neglect of Alameda County.

The question of incorporation again faces the community's residents this Nov. 5 in the form of Measure Q.

The fact that 19 candidates are running for a five-seat city council of the city-in-the-making is a strong indicator of the interest of residents in taking control of their future.

The chief argument against incorporation is that the city-to-be would not be able to support itself. But local businesses, mostly along Castro Valley Boulevard, will be able to raise $18.4 million in revenue, enough to pay city staff, a police force and have a little left over, according to a study by Economic Planning Systems Inc., the company the county hired to do a fiscal analysis for Castro Valley.

 Fire protection, parks, library, water, schools and sanitary districts are already in place and residents will continue to pay taxes to those districts. Those services will be unaffected by incorporation.

 The largest expenditure of a new city will go toward police services, which cityhood opponents like to throw at residents to make them worry about their safety. At present, police services are provided by the county Sheriffs Office and the California Highway Patrol. The discrepancy in numbers by the opponents and proponents of incorporation lies in the 24 members of the CHP, headquartered off I-580.

 Most of the calls handled by the CHP are on the freeways and not on Castro Valley streets. CHP will continue to perform that function even if Castro Valley incorporates. So it should not even be factored in when counting uniformed personnel.

In the first few years of cityhood, the duties performed by the Sheriff's Office's complement of 67 officers will continue to be done by them under a contract with the city.

Even though it is almost built out, continuing growth in Castro Valley will occur even if it is not a city. Its location, near the geographical center of the Bay Area, makes it a desirable place to live whether one works in San Francisco, at the Livermore labs or in Silicon Valley.

The question facing residents is how that growth will occur and how severe its impact will be on the town's quality of life. Residents can leave planning decisions to unaffected planners in a room somewhere else in the county, or residents can choose to make their wishes known to planners down the street or around the corner. Residents can continue to have decisions made for them by a county supervisor, or they can choose a city council of neighbors.

The time has come for Castro Valley to emerge from its cocoon. We recommend a yes vote on Measure Q.

Valley Times Editoral
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/editorial/4313731.htm

Valley Times Articles
Cityhood vote looms at last for tucked-away Castro Valley
Plummer insists 67 officers is too few, but on Friday he said he didn't know how many officers were patrolling the area now and wouldn't say how many he thought were needed.