Meet Chirag Kathrani, Candidate For San Ramon Mayor

SAN RAMON, CA — Patch reached out to all candidates for running for San Ramon mayor and city council with identical questions. Here are the responses from Chirag Kathrani, a candidate for mayor.

Responses have not been edited.

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

I have been an Technology Entrepreneur and have helped multiple people build businesses.

2. How long have you lived in San Ramon?

I have been in San Ramon for 13 years.

3. What brought you here?

I came here for good schools. I have 3 kids of which one is special needs.

4. How have you been involved in the community?

I have also been involved in community service especially through my non profit lead4earth.org where I encourage youths to campaign for the progressive candidates. From the little funds we generate we support projects and those projects are listed on lead4earth.com, Previously I have campaigned for other city candidates as well for eg. Sara Lashanlo, Sabina Zafar, Luz Gomez. Additionally I have been on the School Committee at Bollinger Canyon Elementary.

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

My biggest concern is community disengagement, which I see as a clear leadership failure. If political races are going unchallenged, it is mistakenly viewed as a victory for politics. I strongly believe that leadership encourages, while politics discourages true leadership. I experienced this firsthand when many people discouraged me from running, telling me not to waste my money. (By the way, it costs almost nothing to stand up and run for office.

Affordability, according to the community, was the top priority. While we constantly talk about affordable housing and affordability, if the city had truly prioritized it, affordable housing development would have already begun. Instead, we see townhomes worth around $1.2 million being built as a priority.

City finances are another major concern. Many residents may not be aware that the city is running a significant deficit of around $16 million per year. The city's solution was to raise the sales tax by 1% (from 8.75% to 9.75%). However, I find the ballot measure misleading, as it refers to the increase as levy a one cent sales tax. It should have been clearly stated as a "one percent" increase for better transparency.

Marketplace Redevelopment: Many of us are aware that businesses like Buffalo Wild Wings, Firehouse, Nob Hill, and CVS saw their rent increase and subsequently left the city, leading to those areas being rebuilt into mixed-use housing developments.

6. What are your plans for addressing them?

Community Disengagement: I believe in personally inviting critics of governance to engage in the community by encouraging them to contribute productively. By involving them in creating solutions within the boundaries of the law, we can foster a collaborative environment. I have also actively engaged youth in building positive movements by supporting and encouraging candidates with clean credentials.

Affordability: We must prioritize the needs of the community. While affordable housing is part of our city’s plan, I would collaborate with Sacramento to ensure that affordable housing projects are prioritized and built first.

Financial Shortfall: My experience in startups and business mentoring will be critical here. I will scrutinize every norm and policy to find ways to turn a deficit into a surplus. One approach is to establish a financial audit committee and take a hands-on role in its operations.

Marketplace Redevelopment: I have limited knowledge on this topic and, therefore, cannot suggest a specific solution at this time.

7. What makes you the best candidate?

I have run multiple startups. While running startups, we often compete against large, well-funded organizations with extremely limited budgets. This forces us to think outside the box, rethink conventional ideas, and develop innovative solutions to challenge the status quo.

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

I, Stargraze, often sleep in the backyard with my kids and enjoy hiking frequently.

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