SAN RAMON, Calif. — Housing growth, traffic, public safety and trust in local government emerged as central issues across recent San Ramon candidate forums, with mayoral contenders offering different approaches to the city’s future.
Forum 1: Moderated by League of Womens Voters and hosted by Contra Costa TV.
Credit : Youtube Channel of Candidate Forum, Contra Costa TV, and League of Womens Voters.
Forum 2: Conducted by TriValley Voice moderated by DiyaTV.
Credit : DiyaTV Youtube Channel
Credit : San Ramon Chamber of Commerce Vimeo channel.
The forums also differed in how questions reached candidates. According to Tri-Valley Voice, which organized its Sept. 30 forum with Diya TV, that event used an open list of questions submitted by community members. The other forums used closed, moderator-controlled question sets.
That distinction concerned how questions were collected and selected, rather than whether candidates could give detailed answers. An open community question list gives residents a direct opportunity to identify issues they want addressed and makes those concerns visible to candidates seeking to represent them.
At the Diya TV forum, questions went beyond broad campaign priorities. Candidates were asked about Measure G protections, development appeal fees, water supplies for new housing, surveillance cameras, electricity-provider enrollment and alternatives to raising taxes.
Five Priorities Across the Forums
Growth and infrastructure: Ensuring housing development is matched by roads, water, transportation, schools and public services.
City finances: Addressing the structural deficit, strengthening business activity and explaining the long-term role of Measure N.
Public safety: Maintaining police services, improving school-area safety and balancing surveillance technology with privacy.
Accountability and participation: Making city decisions easier to understand and giving residents meaningful opportunities to question them.
Community inclusion: Addressing hate, supporting young people and ensuring residents from different backgrounds feel heard and represented.
At the Sept. 30 mayoral forum facilitated by the League of Women Voters in Martinez, incumbent Mayor Mark Armstrong emphasized experience, fiscal discipline and concentrating housing growth around the city core and Bishop Ranch. He presented Measure N as an important contribution to stabilizing city finances.
Emma Chigbu focused on affordable housing, accessible transportation and local employment opportunities for young families and professionals. Paschalis Ntatsos questioned financial transparency and whether development planning adequately accounts for traffic and infrastructure demands.
All three attended that forum. Ntatsos also participated in the Tri-Valley Voice/Diya TV forum later that day; Armstrong and Chigbu did not attend the latter event.
The Diya TV discussion brought several specific governance concerns into focus. Community-submitted questions asked whether candidates would restore the protections residents associated with Measure G, cap development appeal fees and identify concrete ways to improve city finances without additional taxes.
Participating candidates criticized San Ramon’s appeal fees and expressed support for a cap. Questions about housing also pressed them to explain how additional development would be supported by water supplies and transportation capacity.
At the Muslim Community Center forum, community safety, anti-Muslim hate and immigration enforcement featured prominently. Ntatsos emphasized listening to residents and supporting small businesses. Council candidates also differed over the city’s environmental and governance record: Marisol Rubio highlighted sustainability and open-space work, while Chirag Kathrani challenged the council’s handling of Measure G. His assertion that the council acted unlawfully was an allegation made during the forum.
All three mayoral candidates attended the Oct. 7 forum hosted by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce and moderated by DanvilleSanRamon.com. Their answers again showed differences over redevelopment, economic development, transportation and financial management.
Across the events, candidates described what they hoped to deliver. The Diya TV forum’s open community question list added another test: how they would respond to the particular concerns raised by the residents they were running to represent.
0
0
Comments