Pleasanton senior to mayor: 'Please don’t yell at me'

Vol. VI, No. 1,349

—Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch found himself back in the middle of another tense council exchange on Tuesday night—this time over his treatment of a speaker at the July 27 meeting on the controversial Arroyo Lago development.

Former Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown told the council Tuesday night that she was troubled by Balch’s handling of a speaker who spoke critically of the project. 🎥WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE

Brown said the woman exceeded the three-minute public-comment limit, but noted that other speakers praising the city’s handling of recent fires had been allowed to run long.

When the woman attempted to finish her final sentence, Balch said, “no thank you” and rapped the gavel. Before dismissing the resident, Balch questioned if she understood the issue being discussed.

“I couldn’t believe it, mayor,” Brown said Tuesday, adding that the woman walked away asking Balch to “please stop yelling at me.”

“Is that really the kind of behavior this council is proud of?” Brown asked. “If you see your mayor acting in a way that is not becoming of your City Council, perhaps it might be a time to step up,” she implored councilmembers.

Councilmember Julie Testa apologized for remaining silent during the July 27 confrontation. “That was a hard interaction to watch, and it was clearly a very biased action against one speaker,” Testa said.

Balch responded in a noticeably chipper tone: “Okay. Thank you very much.”

—There’s no shortage of bad blood among Balch, Brown and Testa.

Balch defeated Brown in the mayor’s race two years ago after the pair frequently sparred while serving together on the council. During his first two years as mayor, Balch has also repeatedly clashed with Testa.

That friction surfaced again during the July 27 Arroyo Lago hearing, when Balch interrupted Testa as she questioned the developer.

Last year, during a similarly heated dais dispute, Balch slammed his gavel and called a recess after quarreling with Testa.

Now the rivalry has electoral consequences: Testa filed last week to challenge Balch for mayor in November.

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