Meet Craig Eicher, Candidate For Pleasanton City Council District 2

PLEASANTON, CA — Patch reached out to all candidates for Pleasanton Mayor and and City Council with identical questions. Here are the responses from Craig Eicher, a candidate for Pleasanton City Council District 2.

1. What is your personal, educational, and professional background?

Personal

My wife Kimberly and I are long time Pleasanton residents. We raised our two children, who graduated from Pleasanton Schools and participated in local sports programs. They were successful in earning college degrees from St Mary’s College of CA and UC Davis. My son went on to become an officer in the Army and my daughter is currently in her fourth year of veterinary school. Kimberly has worked for her mother’s Tax business for over 30 years. We are living in our
“forever” home in Pleasanton and love and support our community.

Education

• I grew up in Pleasanton attending Lydicksen Elementary and graduating from Foothill High School in 1984.
• Las Positas Collage AA degree.
• California State University Hayward, BA in Criminal Justice Administration
• St. Mary College of CA, MA in Organizational Leadership
• Attended the FBI – National Academy
• Attended Clairmont University’s Drucker School of Management

Professional Background

• I have worked for the City of Pleasanton for over 30 years in a variety of capacities. I started off a volunteer reserve police officer. Within a couple years, I was hired as a Police Officer and over the years worked my way up the chain of command to Police Captain and then Interim Police Chief. I have been involved with every aspect of running a municipal Police Department, while contributing to a larger city-wide management team, and routinely worked community members to solve complex issues. I have been involved in the implementation of many of the creative solutions put forth by the police department in the past 30 to reduce costs and increase effectiveness.

2. How long have you lived in Pleasanton?

46 years

3. What brought you here?

I was 12 years old when my parents moved to Pleasanton to start a new job. My wife, Kimberly, and I attended Pleasanton schools and graduated from Foothill High School. We purchased our first house in Livermore and two years later moved back to Pleasanton where we have lived ever since.

4. How have you been involved in the community?

• I started volunteering at the Pleasanton Convalescent Hospital on Neal St. while
• attending Foothill High School.
• I have been a member of the Foothill Band Boosters and helped with Band events at
• Amador and Foothill while my own children attended Foothill High School.
• I served on the Chamber Foundation.
• I served on the board of directors of Hope Hospice for 8 years, serving as the President for over 6 years. I helped reduce inherited significant deficit spending and when I left the organization its books were balanced and had increased reserve funds.
• I serve on the Community of Character Collaborative where I am the current board, President.I continue to financially support a variety of other non-profits doing great work in the Tri-Valley.

5. What do you feel are some of the biggest challenges facing the city?

• Insufficient Public Safety support leading to higher turnover rates and an increase in workers compensation claims. Due to long-standing staffing shortages city is experiencing a reduction of staffing in specialized units (i.e. traffic) and increased emergency response times. Criminal activity has been on the uptick and in many instances, crimes are no longer being documented because they have a low probability of being prosecuted.
• Fiscal Responsibility has become a key issue. The City has an aggressive 5 year strategic plan with a lot of new spending associated with it that existing revenue cannot support resulting in the Council majority to seek a 1⁄2 cent sales tax to offset the new Spending.
• Clean inexpensive Water is of great concern to me and many in the community with whom I have spoken. City wells have been shut down for 2 years and with the current plan in place it will be 4 years before the city has a new well in the ground to increase production and reduce costs.

6. What are your plans for addressing them?

Public Safety

• Focus on the core issues of employee turnover.
• Ensure equitable compensation and benefit to ensure we retain staff while at the same time working to control run-a-way costs.Prioritize the primary roles of Public Safety in our community (i.e. increase visibility and staffing to appropriate levels, actively engage violators, provide essential training and opportunities for professional growth)
• Advocate for Public Safety to ensure regional and state policy issues represent our small-town issues.

Fiscal Responsibility

• With inflation in the double digits, government should not be increasing their spending. I will advocate for a balanced budget with no new additional taxes, reduce spending by delaying infrastructure projects that can be completed on a less aggressive timeline. I will focus on economic development and vitality to get our local economy going again. I want the city to engage the business community to help identify barriers and eliminate them to encourage new businesses to set up shop ion Pleasanton. I would like to see the city working directly with property owners to encourage community partnerships and appropriate redevelopment.

Water

• I want the city to collaborate closely with stakeholders and regional partners identifying ways to work together to reduce costs and improve outcomes without delay. Our elected’s have known about the water issues Pleasanton is experiencing for years and has been slow to address this priority for our community. The residents deserve a well thought out and detailed plan of action to improve our water situation in both the short and long term.

7. What makes you the best candidate?

I have been a resident for 46 years, providing me with some historical perspective. Having worked for the city for 30 plus years I have a good understanding of successfully managing a budget while finding creative methodologies to implement new concepts. I am a creative, critical thinker and appreciate varied viewpoints to help me with problem solving and to ensure I gain a clear understanding of an issue. I have been a leader in the law enforcement community and the City of Pleasanton for over half of my career, providing me with valuable insights and knowledge about issues currently impacting the city. There are solutions to every problem, and I have a history of bringing stakeholders together and working through the issues for the betterment of everyone involved. My experience, education, and background also provide me with a unique perspective that positions me as a solid candidate to serve the Pleasanton community.

8. Outside of politics, what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy spending my time with friends and family. I enjoy working in my yard, projects around my house and helping my father-in-law produce the Widmer-World Christmas light display each winter. I also enjoy very much being involved in my community and support a variety of community organizations as my way of giving back to my community.

9. Any other comments?

I have been retired from the city for over 3 years now and running for office was not how I intended on spending my retirement. I am concerned for the overall wellbeing of my community and want my future grandkids to enjoy the great community I grew up in. It is my opinion the council majority is “off track” and there is a need for the council to be more objective to best serve our community.

Community Endorsements:

• Former Police Chiefs endorse Craig Eicher for Pleasanton City Council
• PUSD School Board Members Endorse Craig Eicher for City Council