The Livermore City Council will see some fresh faces next year.
But not in the mayor’s chair, as longtime councilmember and current Mayor John Marchand is the only candidate running for the post this year.
In District 3, councilmember Brittni Kiick has decided not to re-run after one term. Her successor will be either engineering supervisor Steven Dunbar, physicist and business owner David Farley, or business owner Jeff Kaskey.
In District 4, longtime councilmember Bob Carling has been termed out. He’ll be replaced by either retired physicist Thomas Soules or Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Trustee Kristie Wang.
Steven Dunbar
Dunbar cites his time with the Livermore Planning Commission and the outreach committee of Livermore Community Asset Management Program as why he’s “the only candidate who knows firsthand how community, council and city staff work together,” on his campaign website.
“With five years of experience, I have a strong track record of balancing complex tradeoffs with community concerns to achieve the best outcomes for Livermore,” Dunbar said on his website.
He said growing up with a self-taught computer technician and a teacher with a disability for parents “showed me how to advocate for the most marginalized in society and instilled in me the fierce self-reliance necessary to fuel that work.”
Dunbar said he wants safer streets for walking, biking, and driving. He said he’d aim to create safer communities by promoting positive policing, continue investing in a positive and supportive police culture, making smart investments in safety, enhance traffic management and safer routes for everyone.
He said he’d concentrate on improving response times and efficiencies in emergency services, improving flood and fire safety, and investing in planning to improve safety and reduce insurance costs.
Dunbar said his background as an engineering supervisor has honed his skills in budget and resource management. He wants to uphold financial responsibility with diligent budgeting, ensuring funding for essential services and community safety, practicing wise resource management, efficiently maintaining the city’s resources, coordinating planning, aligning city projects to reduce costs and improve efficiency, practicing cost-effective transportation that focuses on high benefits and low costs.
Dunbar said he’d support small businesses, enhance Livermore’s wine country identity, promote housing options, support clean air and water, and safeguard the city’s agricultural lands and vineyards.
David Farley
David Farley is a former Navy aviator with degrees in engineering physics and aeronautical engineering. He’s worked for NASA, General Dynamics, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and has experience as a Livermore Airport Commissioner.
The father of two said on his campaign site he served as head coach for Granada High School.
Farley said he’s been “a leader of clean energy projects worldwide for a decade, a scientist and policy researcher working for the national labs, and an entrepreneur and business owner. I now want to serve the City of Livermore as Council Member for District 3 to maintain the great aspects of living in Livermore that we all enjoy, and to avoid the pitfalls that have challenged other Bay Area cities.”
Farley said “I continue to be motivated to serve my community and country. I believe the people demand and our government needs strong, smart, and objective leadership. I believe I am that type of candidate.”
Farley said a vote for him is a vote for “strong and experienced leadership, smart housing development while maintaining our open spaces, clean energy development, maintaining public safety, fiscal prudence, and pushing for opportunities to leverage our world-class local technical labor force.”
Jeff Kaskey
Jeff Kaskey is curator and past president of Livermore’s historical society, the Livermore Heritage Guild. He also served as vice president of the Livermore Cultural Arts Council and served on Livermore’s Historic Preservation Commission for eight years.
Kaskey said on his campaign site he holds five U.S, patents and spent 37 years as technical staff, manager and director at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sun Microsystems, Intergraph, and Rambus.
Kaskey has also served on Livermore’s Downtown Steering Committee, was a board member of Livermore Lions Club, and volunteered at Asbury Church homeless services, 4-H, and Hearts and Horses Riding and Rescue.
Kaskey said he’s committed to growing an active downtown, preserving Livermore’s open spaces and agricultural heritage, the city’s climate action plan, and growing Livermore’s leading-edge technology in labs, startups, incubators and its substantial tech industry.
He said he’s also committed to supporting humane solutions to the many issues which result in housing and food insecurity, to having a well-managed and responsible city government, and be remain committed to featuring the community’s cultural arts and heritage.
In the District 4 race, retired Lawrence Livermore and GE physicist Thomas Soules said in his candidate’s statement to the city he wants to govern from the bottom up and make city government “totally transparent.” He said he wants to make the city as vibrant as possible and bring in new businesses.
Thomas Soules
Soules said he’d like to bring the city a new downtown park he said would “be a magnet for growth.” Soules also said he’d want to bring in low-income housing growth, but “on a much grander scale.”
Soules said on his campaign site discussions concerning the city’s downtown plan began about five years ago, and “it’s time for Livermore’s residents to have a direct vote to conclude this debate.”
Soules said he’d protect the Urban Growth Boundary “to safeguard our stunning vineyards.” He also said he won’t support tax increases and wants to balance economic growth with environmental protection.
“Economic development must be responsible, and we should be cognizant of its impact on the environment,” Soules said. “I will encourage engineering, science and technology firms to come here. Livermore has a lot to offer, with its National Laboratories and other high-tech companies right here already. The hospitality and tourism industry benefit as well, with our vineyards, open spaces and downtown.”
Kristie Wang
Soule’s opponent is school board member Kristie Wang, who said on her campaign site she wants to see the city continue to flourish.
“Our city continues to face challenges with housing affordability, traffic, and maintaining our infrastructure,” said Wang, who emigrated from Taiwan when she was 7. “Housing affordability affects all of us. I see first-hand how it hampers our ability to attract and retain quality teachers, first responders, service workers, and national laboratory employees. Those of us with adult children want this to be a community where young people can afford to live and raise their families as we did.”
Wang said she and her husband moved to Livermore from Dublin 18 years ago because of the negative impact of over-development on the quality of life.
“I have deeply studied the issues facing our city and enhanced this with many conversations with our community members about their interests and concerns. This is the way I serve on (the) school Board,” Wang said. “I study the issues, laws and regulations, best practices and innovative ideas, and figure out how to make it work for our community. I have a track record of engaging with people and being readily accessible, visible, and responsive.”
Wang was a public policy professional in Washington, D.C. before moving back to the East Bay 25 years ago.
“I have worked at every level of government and actively engaged in policy making and community organizing,” Wang said. “I worked in Washington, D.C. on U.S.-Taiwan relations and provided legislative support to the Pentagon, then moved back to California and transitioned to education, child, and family policy.”
Wang said she’s an active member of community organizations such as Tri-Valley Haven, the Tri-Valley Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. She also helps organize the annual Juneteenth Festival at Bankhead Plaza with Tri-Valley for Black Lives.
Election Day is Nov. 5. To find out more about Alameda County Elections here.