The candidates for San Ramon era of transition
How far San Ramon has come in the past 10 years. No longer is it best known for the state’s highest-paid city manager who had negotiated sweetheart contract provisions to boost his pension.
Instead, this is now a city of conservative fiscal practices, where the pensions for workers are funded far better than in most California municipalities. Where city employees pay their fair share of their pension costs. Where their retiree health care program is nearly fully funded, unlike almost all other cities that offer the benefit.
The challenge for voters in the Nov. 3 election is figuring out who will best continue San Ramon’s prudent fiscal management and address the city’s shortage of affordable housing. The strongest candidates are Sabina Zafar for mayor, Scott Perkins for the District 1 City Council seat and Sridhar Verose in District 3.
The city’s solid budget reserves allowed it to move quickly when the pandemic struck to cover about a combined $2.1 million shortfall in the last and current fiscal years without laying off or furloughing any full-time staff. But city officials understand there could be tough challenges as the economic downturn continues to fester.
Meanwhile, what was once a predominantly White suburban city has become a major job center with 46% plurality Asian population.
And the demographic changes have reshaped the pool of candidates for local office. This year, given the candidate field in the city’s first foray into district elections, Asian representation on the City Council will increase from one to two or three of the five seats.
Mayor — Sabina Zafar
Zafar is a software technology designer and manager. Elected to the City Council on her second try in 2018, Zafar has earned the respect of her colleagues, is prudently cautious about city finances and is stridently clear that the city must provide more housing for workers, especially younger members of the workforce.
Her biggest competitor is long-time Councilman Dave Hudson, whose ramblings continue to perplex us and others. Asked why he was running for mayor, rather than emphasize city issues, he focused on his appointments to regional boards and international travel. “I’m in Singapore and introduced as the mayor of San Ramon,” he mused out loud. Ah, Dave, that’s probably not what voters are first looking for.
Of the other four candidates, we were intrigued by Dinesh Govindarao, who is the chief medical officer for the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Given his managerial experience, he would probably be a very capable elected official, but we’d like to see him serve on a commission or as a councilman before trying to challenge a proven leader for the mayoral post.
District 1 — Scott Perkins
Perkins was first elected to the City Council in 2003. A mechanical engineer with an MBA degree, he worked as a test engineer and manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1980-2017 and continues to consult for the lab. He has a keen understanding of city budget details and appreciates the need for more affordable housing.
His opponent, Luz Gomez, is a manager for Contra Costa County’s Community Wellness and Prevention Program. She has broad government experience, but she seemed to be searching for problems in the city’s generally solid finances. She didn’t seem to appreciate how strong San Ramon is relative to most other cities — and offered no current solutions for the fiscal issues she identified.
District 3 — Sridhar Verose
Verose, a senior manager of global cloud operations for Opentext, is the clear standout in this four-person race. He understands the details of the city’s budgets and the nuances of state housing law. He currently serves on San Ramon’s Parks and Community Services Commission and founded the San Ramon Cricket Association.
None of the other three candidates have city service experience.