(CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA.) – Entrepreneur and San Ramon resident Kismat Kathrani is running for Contra Costa County Assessor.
In an interview with OpGov.news reporter Molly Scheid, Kathrani says he promises to “regain the public trust” and “modernize the office."
Video Credit: YouTube
The Contra Costa County Assessor's duties include “discovering and assessing all property” and “providing a public information service to assist taxpayers with questions about property ownership and assessment.”
Photo Credit: Contra Costa County Assessor
When asked what he believes is the most important part of this position, Kathrani states that all commercial, residential, and business properties must be “taxed fairly and accurately.”
This is important, Kathrani explains, because the money generated from the assessor’s office is used to fund “the schools, the police department, the safety in all the cities” as well as “miscellaneous facilities” which include everything from senior centers to libraries.
Kathrani states that using taxpayer money efficiently and fairly is a top priority of his, especially given the recent controversies with the current county assessor, Gus Kramer.
“There have been multiple lawsuits that have been brought up against the assessor Gus Kramer. And what is even more shocking is there're a lot of taxpayer funds that go into paying the bills for this legal lawsuit,” Kathrani remarks.
In light of this, Kathrani says it's crucial to regain public trust and promote transparency, which he plans to do by ensuring “every question that the public has is answered fairly and accurately.”
To do so, Kathrani plans to use the budget to improve customer service, where questions regarding taxes are “addressed online” and via phone, where residents “can call and speak to somebody as quickly as possible.”
Photo Credit: Kismatforthepeople.com
Considering Contra Costa County’s diverse population, Kathrani mentions how he also aims to make the office multilingual so that all residents benefit equally from his planned improvements in customer service.
He states that residents should be able to look at information in the assessor’s office in different languages so every resident has equal access to the office's services.
Another item on Kathrani's agenda is to reduce the wait time for appeals. He states that appeals are currently taking about two years and that he plans to fix this.
During the interview, Scheid inquires about how he plans to achieve these goals.
Photo Credit: Youtube
A huge part of his campaign goals includes modernizing the assessor’s office, Kathrani states.
“We want to digitalize each and every operation in the office because we don't want anybody to walk into the office for simple things. Everything has to be digitalized.”
Kathrani states that the current assessor’s office technology stack “has not been upgraded for a major part for almost 50 years.”
Given this, he says that upgrading the office’s technology is a core priority of his.
Kathrani says that he is qualified to do this, given his background in tech and as the founder of Info Way Solutions, an IT services and software development company.
“I have about 25 years in the technology domain expertise. At the same time, I have been running my business for a little over 18 years,” Kathrani explains.
His company has worked with corporations like Apple and Walmart, where they seek to optimize technology and digitalize areas wherever possible to improve productivity.
“And since I've been doing these very large enterprise-level projects for this larger customer, I plan to bring the same expertise and put it into the public office. I plan to use the tax dollar very wisely and very efficiently.”
Photo Credit: Kismatforthepeople
It is his background in tech that differentiates him from his opponents, Kathrani asserts.
“I bring the leadership experience. None of my opponents carry that. I've been running and creating jobs for about 18 years now.”
Photo Credit: Kismat Kathrani at OpGov.news Interview
“The office has been running by the same management for almost 32 years now. I think it's high time that we need to have a different voice in the office.”
For this reason and his background as a tech entrepreneur, Kathrani says Contra Costa residents should choose him as their county assessor.
If you would like to add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at mollyscheid7@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
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