PLEASANTON — For apparently the first time in decades, city workers here will be laid off because of budget woes.
The Pleasanton City Council last week ended an unpleasant budget season by voting to lay off two employees, cut library hours and reduce parks maintenance in order to close a $12 million hole in the city’s two-year budget.
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The budget, effective on July 1, totals $248.3 million in operating funds through the next fiscal year and $257.7 million the following year. For months, the council tried to preserve as many city services as possible in the face of a roughly $100 million budget deficit over the next eight years, with potential annual shortfalls between $13 million and $22 million.
The most significant cuts approved last week will hit the city’s public library. The facility will close entirely on Sundays, with overall weekly hours cut from 62 to 48. City Manager Gerry Beaudin said the library cutbacks will save the city about $830,000 in expenses the first year and another $940,000 the next year.
Overall, the city lopped off $6.7 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal budget and $7.1 million in the 2026-2027 cycle, according to Finance Director Susan Hsieh. Those cuts came on top of $2.5 million made last year. Officials had hoped a half-cent sales tax increase would help stabilize the city’s finances but voters rejected Measure PP in the November election.
Lisa Harlow, an AFSCME Council 57 union representative for Pleasanton city workers, urged councilmembers at the June 17 budget hearing against laying off any workers. She said the two layoffs — a police department public communications coordinator and a library worker — are the first the city’s had in 100 years. Pleasanton has about 465 employees.
“To be the first council to make such a decision would be a deeply disappointing departure from the city’s commitment to the well-being of this community and its workforce,” Harlow said. “This action risks eroding the trust and morale of the employees who have dedicated years to the city.”
Harlow called the layoffs “blatantly illegal,” alleging officials are retaliating against the two employees who will be laid off because they testified in January in an unfair labor practice hearing against the city.
Teri Yan, the police department’s communications coordinator who will be laid off, asked council last week to save her job and the other one getting slashed.
“I love my job and I am proud of the work that I have done to support this city. I believe in the value this position brings, not just to the police department, but to the community we serve,” Yan said. “Please preserve this role and the voice it gives to the police department. I urge you to consider the long-term value in the final budget.”
Without offering an alternative place to trim, Councilman Craig Eicher, a former Pleasanton police captain and interim chief, asked fellow councilmembers if they wanted to save the two jobs.
They did not.
“I think we all would like to, but I think we have to respect the decision that was made,” Councilwoman Julie Testa said.
Before the final vote, Testa added that more tough decisions lay ahead, given the longterm financial forecast is grim.
“This is difficult for all of us. The community is absolutely feeling the consequences of not having the funding that we had hoped would help get us through these challenges,” Testa said. “But we definitely have a lot more challenges. With this balanced budget, it gets us through two years – but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Vice Mayor Jeff Nibert said he was concerned that not enough money was being put toward the aquatic center and other facilities, parks, roadways, storm drains and police and fire vehicles. They all “remain critically underfunded” and pose a “great risk” to residents if not addressed.
“It will only be a matter of several years until major renovations to the aquatic center will be necessary,” Nibert said. “It will simply break down. It will simply deteriorate to the point where it will need to be closed for over a year to do those necessary repairs.”
In previous deliberations, the City Council decided against closing the pool, after droves of residents showed up to meetings demanding it remain open. The council also previously decided against closing a fire station.
As part of the budget approved last week, the city and the Pleasanton Unified School District will split the cost of staffing crossing guards at 22 locations, a pilot program that came after the City Council considered eliminating funding altogether.
Officials estimate that the city will save $450,000 over the next two years with PUSD fronting the cost of 10 crossing guards and the city taking care of the rest.
PUSD Interim Superintendent Maurice Ghysels said in a statement that he expects the district’s costs to be under $200,000 annually. The PUSD school board in May approved over $5 million in cuts as it deals with its own budget troubles due to declining enrollment and loss of revenues.
“Student safety is a top priority for Pleasanton Unified School District and not something we are willing to compromise,” Ghysels said.