OpGov.ai Girik Malani boldly asks citizens to sign a petition for a referendum, garnering over 1.3K signatures.
SAN RAMON - Not in my backyard, otherwise known as NIMBY.
That seems to be San Ramon's brand, with only certain citizens standing up to blatant political corruption.
I have been a reporter for two decades, and, as noted before, worked for Gannett and ABC, and I have to say, the pattern of politics in California is disheartening to say the least.
With that, I will get right to the point.
For any San Ramon resident, young or old, who doubts the motives of OpGov.ai, I look forward to proving each of you wrong, story by story, as you can read below. The apparent pattern points to said dishonesty, and if you read each story in full, it becomes evident that there are unclear and allegedly liable practices in the San Ramon Government.
Tale by tale, you will see the obvious, many of which you choose to remain blind to, re-electing corrupt incumbents while the rest of your community suffers.
Take, for example, Sunset Development blatantly conducting backroom deals with elected officials. At first, it looked like Councilman Robert Jweniat should be recalled, since he publicly admitted passing Ordinances 531 and 532, was liable, yet did so anyway. Or how about the Toll Brothers application under review, shuffled under the paperwork of abolishing Measure G.
He, his peers, and any San Ramon resident who read the report, disregarded this media outlet's report the day before passing the said rules, warning them and residents that Contra Costa County Election Recorder Dawn Kruger said any attempts to change a voter-measured ordinance other than bringing it back to the ballot were not allowed.
And yet, San Ramon did it anyway. Yet, that is par for the course for this five-member council and Mayor Mark Armstrong.
That is why OpGov.ai and Founder Chirag Kathrani counter with a referendum to stop said backroom deals that have brought prior elected officials to the podium pleading for public transparency twice in one week.
Volunteers set up shop at a public event at the last minute after being told they could not, until Chirag Kathrani, the founder of a media outlet, spoke up in the name of democracy.
Referendum Backstory
It all started in an Aug. 12 San Ramon Town Council meeting that went past midnight, when the council approved the controversial Sunset developer agreement, despite 65+ residents voicing concerns.
Why not appeal rather than petition for a referendum? The exorbitant cost for one, which is the reason for this complaint filed with the local district attorney.
Along with the complaint, Kathrani and a team of volunteers took the matter to the public, literally voicing their concerns outside of the town hall. At one event, the group was told they could not put up a booth until Kathrani found the event's supervisor, who could not say no to the non-profit media outlet practicing democracy, specifically with youth concerned about their future.
OpGov.ai team in San Ramon
The complaint is just one of dozens of documents documented here that lay the foundation for a referendum regarding Sunset. Kathrani said even Eric Wallace, a planning commissioner, strongly opposed the development, questioning why it was needed.
Like former Mayor Gregg Carr and Councilman Jim Blickenstaff, Kathrani questions the city's financials regarding affordable housing. At last week's meeting, Carr had no problem questioning the ethics of the San Ramon Planning Commission, purporting that putting all affordable housing units in one part of town is wrong.
"They will move all the affordable units to one small apartment rental complex, which is basically a violation of the basic density bonus law," Kathrani said. "To make this possible, they had to change the fare ratio, so when a home is sold to rent, they're making a million-dollar bonus."
The total $200 million for 200 homes, according to Kathrani, who said "a bunch of people were raising this question about this shift from for sale to for rent."
Kathrani asked elected officials why certain property owners were not listed on the paperwork, since Sunset owns only 1% of the land. After searching out titles, Kathrani filed the noted complaint with the district attorney.
Kathrani said when the General Plan was amended, there were multiple inconsistencies, including the fact that the applicant, Sunset Development Company, owned only 2.2 acres of the 205 acres being rezoned.
“The remaining land owners were identified as ‘various,’” Kathrani said.
When the agreement was presented and eventually passed at the Planning Commission meeting, Kathrani said “one of the planning commissioners was not appointed and did not have a Supermajority as required by Measure G.”
Kathrani takes the referendum matter so seriously that he uses his professional social media handle, LinkedIn, as a platform for this video. The locals' passion for politics clearly has nothing to do with commerce. He speaks up for the entire community that will be affected in the future by decisions made now.
This video also reveals his mission to promote transparent government that involves community dialogue.
as for the youth volunteers, OpGov.ai has been criticized for involving them in their local government by San Ramon Vice Mayor Sridhar Verose.
San Ramon Vice Mayor Sridhar Verose (Photo: San Ramon Government website)
At the last regularly scheduled council meeting, Verose said it was sad that youth were involved in government, while adjacent elected officials commended the youth as seen here.
Regardless of what Verose says, Girik Malani, an adolescent OpGov.ai San Ramon volunteer, will continue to fight for his future.
“I think it is important for people to know what their government is doing so that they can make sure that what they want to happen is happening,” Malani said, adding what is most upsetting about what he is seeing in American politics is that the average citizen who votes officials into office does not even understand how government works.
“It includes all of us at some point, so we should all know how it works,” Malani said.
Referendum petition signatures gathered by OpGov.ai
The kid is right.
He practices debate in the high school Model U.N., already showing the teenager's strong leadership skills.
Not only is he right, but he is the sole youth to gain the most referendum signatures, along with other OpGov.ai volunteers, young and old. For this, OpGov.ai thanks him and all the youth, as well as former elected officials, who demand what is best for the public, not the politicians and developers.
OpGov.ai filed a Freedom of Information Act for all elected officials' emails related to Measure G and the Toll Brothers application in an effort to find out all the facts that are disturbing some San Ramon citizens. To date, Kathrani has used tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to build a web site that promotes transparency across the U.S., not just San Ramon.
Along with money, he gives his time.
As of this morning, a once concerned citizen changed his tune, now questioning Kathrani rather than officials, as seen below. Needless to say, the last email assures the citizen that OpGov.ai is not going anywhere except the San Ramon Town Hall to prove the truth.
Email One
Email Two
Email Three
Email Four
Email Five
Email Six
Email Seven
Email Eight
The only thing left to report, other than the referendum petition, is what San Ramon officials will do Tuesday night, at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
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