With the filing deadline now long gone, the field has been set for the Orinda City Council election. Three incumbents and one newcomer will vie for three open city council seats this Nov. 3.
“We’re aware of the concern that this does not appear to be a particularly competitive election cycle,” said Mayor Brandyn Iverson, who filed for re-election to another four-year term on July 28.
“But none of us are exactly entrenched,” Iverson said, noting that it is important to “keep in mind that the three incumbents running this time around are all in our first term.”
Iverson and her two incumbent colleagues on the council, Latika Malkani and Janet Riley, will face newcomer Juana Rudati, who filed and qualified for the Nov. 3 ballot on Aug. 6.
Councilmembers Darlene Gee and Kara Hoxie are not up for re-election until 2028.
Three vote-getters out of the four-candidate field will win election to a four-year term on the council.
While voters have a year’s worth of intel on Iverson, Malkani and Riley, they have much to learn about new candidate Rudati.
For starters, the 17-year Orinda resident and city council attendee said she is ready to move from being on the sidelines to helping shape city policy.
“I realized I wanted to do more than comment from the outside,” Rudati said, whose child has attended Orinda Public schools since TK.
Rudati said she respects the current council and agrees with many of its goals, but believes there is room for improvement in how decisions are made and residents are included.
She wants major decisions to be more clearly grounded in evidence, with assumptions tested and consequences considered. She also called for greater transparency, including easier public access to recordings, minutes and supporting materials from city meetings.
“I also want to bring the perspective of a parent with a child currently in Orinda public schools, which I think is underrepresented in city government,” she said.
Rudati is a physicist with a Ph.D. who conducted research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and later led research and development teams at Xradia/Zeiss and the Department of Defense in McClellan Park CA.
She has also taught physics at Diablo Valley College and worked as a substitute teacher in Orinda’s public schools. She currently serves on the board of directors of the American Physical Society and consults for science and technology startups developing advanced hardware.
She hopes her campaign will encourage other residents to become involved in local government.
“I hope my candidacy demonstrates that an ordinary resident can run – and win – without spending a lot of money or building a large campaign organization,” she said.
Her website is juanafororinda.com, and added why she decided to run for city council.
“Because I care deeply about Orinda and believe I can contribute a perspective and approach that are not currently well represented on the council,” she said.
City council campaigns require $10,000 to $30,000 to fund, based on a recent review of council campaign filings. All three incumbent candidates have some money on hand which can make it much easier to raise more.
The incumbents will use those funds to highlight what Orinda has accomplished in their four years in office.
“I think we have made some real progress,” said Malkani. She believes the current city council is atypical in politics, particularly in today’s world, because it is an “incredibly collaborative, hard-working, thoughtful group of people.”
The current council listens to one another in good faith, even though members don’t always agree, Malkani added.
“There is so much more to do,” Malkani said, noting that the council has moved the city forward on a number of issues and has even become a “model city” with regard to its regional coordination, education and working group around emergency preparedness.
Malkani, who has put three kids through school in Orinda, emphasized the strides being made in fire preparedness, infrastructure improvement, and pedestrian improvements that make it easier to walk to school.
Riley and Iverson echoed Malkani’s narrative about the current council having made significant progress, yet realizing that there is much more to do.
“I love Orinda, and serving on the city council these past four years has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” Riley said, who qualified for the ballot on July 22. “I’m running again because I want to continue carrying out the council’s strategic priorities and keep building on the progress we’ve made.”
“Public safety is my top concern” Riley added, noting that the city has made steady improvement in emergency preparedness for wildfires and other extreme events.
Iverson separates the issues into the smaller piecemeal projects, and the bigger, harder stuff which tends to be less visible.
“We are doing a lot of lower-stakes, but high-visibility projects that we’re proud of, focusing on curb appeal and lifestyle elements that make people happy,” Iverson said, citing the new dog park, the new Orinda welcome sign at Theater Square, and the flower and banner program on Orinda and Moraga Way.
“They aren’t that hard, but we’re paying attention to the small details,” Iverson said.
In terms of the bigger challenges, Iverson said real progress has been made on wildfire resilience, evacuation planning, infrastructure and economic development.
Iverson added that it feels like there is a lot of positive change in Orinda’s dining and entertainment scene – with CreekHaus on the way and Sorso opening soon – and “we want to build on that momentum.”
For more information about the upcoming Nov. 3 election, visit the city website at cityoforinda.gov/383/Election-Information.
