(SAN RAMON, Calif.) -- Knowing the truth is freeing.
It's proven in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) San Ramon Series fourth round of emails received by the city clerk's office last week.
While the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God, may not be in these emails, since elected officials correspond in other ways, it is a beginning in the search. The San Ramon FOIA series began in October, after the media outlet reported on a few meetings that revealed a lack of public trust.
While many assume OpGov.ai is on a witch hunt in San Ramon, you are wrong.
As a temporary reporter for San Ramon and other California cities, publisher Chirag Kathrani asked me to cover a series of emails about land development. After authoring the first, reporter Ananya Sayani reported on the second and third sets.
The second round and report detail concern over development appeal fees, the General Plan, and Measure G. In the third round of emails, OpGov.ai obtained a new set of public correspondence sent to city officials, regional agencies, and state lawmakers that builds on earlier reporting about downtown development, transparency, and climate planning.
And the fourth set, interestingly enough, seems to be all about Kathrani and other community members' efforts to endorse a referendum he believes is in the best interests of the community. OpGov.ai is grateful for the correspondence, as it demonstrates the media outlet's absolute transparency.
Every public member has a right to know what officials are discussing in emails, as much as they have a right to say something derogatory about another resident.
Thus far, I have reported everything I have seen with my own eyes. What goes on beyond that, I am not responsible for. So with all that, here is my last report in the email series since I now only cover where I live, Pensacola, FL. Bottom line, we live in America, where our voice still matters, contrary to popular belief.
Speaking of popular, let's start off with a resident pointing out she is not a fan of Kathrani.
She goes by the name of Martha and writes:
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your time and updates the other day.
Somehow, Chirag got a hold of my Voter email, and he has added me to his mailings...see below:
p.s. i've never met him, but Fran says he is pushy, unprofessional, know it all...and he is bascially stupid when it comes to process.
martha
So that is Martha's email with all grammatical errors included, specifically the lack of capitalizing her first name.
While this has nothing to do with official business, it does prove OpGov.ai's transparent reporting.
(Email Correspondence between Mayor Mark Armstrong and a resident)
Needless to say, Martha replies to Kathrani's email.
But before we get to what she has to say, let's look at an email thread between Mayor Mark Armstrong and City Manager Steve Spedowsfski that suggests Kathrani got a resident's email from voter rolls, as you can read below.
(Email Correspondence between Mayor Mark Armstrong and City Manager Steven Spedowfski)
Whether that is true or not, I don't know; I only started working for Kathrani a few months ago.
From a reporter's point of view, covering the city for a short stint, it is obvious from resident reaction and former elected officials Greg Carr and Jim Blickenstiff's objections and questions about due process that the city has some issues.
The only emails the city gave this time were from Brian Swanson and from Kathrani. The correspondence from Swanson regarding the Climate Action Plan (CAP) was addressed by Mayor Armstrong and other officials, who promptly scheduled a meeting to discuss among themselves.
In the end, Swanson lost his battle for better CAP measures, as the San Ramon Climate Coalition approved the city's plan, as seen below.
(Email correspondence between San Ramon Valley Climate Coalition and elected members)
Except for a "Trails Master Plan" email, OpGov.ai has nothing left to report about this FOIA round.
As for what Martha had to say about Kathrani, read on and thank FOIA for it. With all due respect, Martha, you note that 70% of residents agree that Mayor Mark Armstrong and the elected officials are doing a wonderful job.
What about the other 30%?
Do they not matter?
A new San Ramon reporter will continue the series for any resident concerned with what officials are saying about land development, voter-approved legislation, and possibly Kathrani.
If you have anything you would like to add to the report, please email me at reporterangelaunderwood@gmail.com.
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