It was another beautiful day in the valley and the sun was bright enough to make me squint. My car seemed to be riding very smoothly. Perhaps over the years, I had just become accustomed to the bumps and small holes in the road and had grown indifferent to them. But, it was not the same old road at all. A gentle breeze made the leaves on the small trees that seemed to have appeared over-night, like mushrooms, sway and shimmer. The strips of green grass now spread out like carpet. The new road stretched out before me and covered forever the old potholes.

How very proud I was as I looked around at the beautiful new buildings that were taking shape. Laborers shoveled and raked their way across a new mound of dirt and a small rainbow materialized over a distant group of sprinklers that watered another newly planted area.

It was hard to believe that I had once stood at the corner of Hopyard Road and Valley Avenue and looking north could see nothing but water. I remember that Hopyard Road disappeared into a great lake that stretched all the way to I-580 (then called Highway 50) and the old Zone 7 well buildings, that still stand by the Youth Sports Park, were partly submerged. There was no Youth Sports Park then, no Valley Trails, no Val Vista, no W. Las Positas Boulevard to accommodate gas stations, no new Motor Vehicle offices or Lucky Shopping Center. We've come a long way since that big rainstorm flood in the late 50's. I thought how lucky they, and we, were to have completed all the storm drain facilities and flood control work in North Pleasanton. It surely would have been a disaster to experience a flooding like that again and, with the heavy rains we experienced the last two years, such a re-occurrence would have been very likely.

I really love this town. Whenever we have visitors at our home, I like to take them on a small tour. Our charming downtown, our lovely subdivisions, our parks, our sports field and our regional shopping center. I brag about the industrial development that will be taking place over the next twenty years. The Reynolds and Brown project, the Meyers development and the Hacienda Business Park are projects that make city officials, chamber representatives and businessmen from all over our state turn green with envy.

My car radio was tuned to KKIQ and the news had just begun: "Unlike other cities throughout the State, Pleasanton has not had to cut back its budget because of cuts in State funding" said the newscaster. "The growth that Pleasanton has experienced in the last few years has strengthened the city's budget and allowed it to continue community programs," he concluded. I had to smile. Good for you Pleasanton, I thought. It took a lot of hard work over a lot of years, but it's finally paying off.

I started to think back. I arrived in Pleasanton in 1954 so I have some history to draw on. Others had told me of Pleasanton's long sleep as a small rural hamlet. How have we come so far and been so fortunate to attract growth of the tremendous quality that has come to us? As I think back and research our past, I find it was certainly no accident. If Pleasanton is blessed, it's major blessing was a dedicated group of citizens who over the years poured their hearts and souls into the quality of Pleasanton life. It would have been easy to build a fence around town and stick their collective heads in the sand but they didn't. They had courage. They had determination. They somehow had the wisdom to know that when the right time came, Pleasanton would be ready. They turned away the "garbage" projects. They built quality homes. They protected our water rights and they masterplanned our community. All of us who have served our City as elected officials are proud of the era in which we served. Each of us can think of some of the amenities that were created over the years. No one person, however, or no group of individuals can claim the credit for this gradual metamorphosis. It began long ago with dedicated citizens, many of whom are still with us today and still expressing their opinions, fighting for what they think is right and enjoying life in "their town". We owe them a lot. They welcomed us into their community. They invited us to partake of their labor of love and willingly shared the results of their efforts with us.

I know that not everyone agrees with the development we are now experiencing, but I've never heard even one dissenter ever say that Pleasanton wasn't the greatest town in the world.

Yet, look how much it has changed since that flooding in the 50's. Could it be that change, properly done and planned, is also a blessing? Can it be that this town of 3,000 people in 1954 has grown to a city of 37,000 and still maintains its charm, its uniqueness and its heritage? I believe it has. I for one, sit in anxious anticipation of the years ahead. It's an exciting time and I pay tribute to all those Pleasantonites who came before and challenged us to do whatever we could to carry on their noble tradition; to create a community where an atmosphere of good will, good planning and good neighbors continue to bless us all.

I salute the businessmen who pour millions of dollars into this community to provide us with the financial resources to keep our city strong. I don't worry anymore about where my children are going to live or where they are going to work. Now they have a future in Pleasanton. That's a good feeling for a parent and I'm sure that many of you share it with me.

Is all this progress too much, too fast? Is Pleasanton going to be ruined because it is growing? Are we destined to live in a polluted hole where we choke on our air and cannot drink the water? I have no hesitation in answering those questions with an unequivocal 'NO'!

Several years ago I wrote a Letter to the Editor about "economic man" and "environmental man". It pointed out the motivations behind each type and extolled each ones vices and virtues. That's as far as I went and it interested me that several friends told me that while they had enjoyed reading it, I hadn't finished it. That pleased me because it showed me that I didn't have to. The readers came to their own conclusions, as any reader should. Environment and economics have to work together, in harmony, to achieve man's highest reward. That's what has been happening here. What good does an investor do himself, or the community in which he invests, if he does not protect both through good planning and common sense. Would you plant a new lawn and then fail to provide water to nourish it and protect your investment? The quality of the industrial growth that is offered to us is backed up with a commitment for excellence in all areas. Sure, there will always be proposals to build "junk" industrial buildings and poor quality housing. We've seen it time after time. But they will be rejected as they should be.

This nation became great because its people were not afraid to open new frontiers and search for a better life. That continual search for progress is a part of our heritage. Pleasanton has become a better place to live because the people of Pleasanton in the past, the present, and hopefully the future, had and continue to have, an open-minded approach to the problems and challenges of today. And we have a commitment to excellence that should make all of us proud.

Henry Ward Beecher once wrote: "God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how."

We should give our thanks to all who chose to make this life in our town a very special one.

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: November 10, 1983 Pathways.