With three incumbents and one newcomer battling for three seats on the Orinda City Council, the Nov. 3 election is an opportunity for voters to weigh in on the direction the city is taking.
The council has been mostly aligned on issues in recent years, with the five members generally working together to address matters facing the city. The three incumbents – Brandyn Iverson, Latika Malkani and Janet Riley – are seeking re-election to the council.
Malkani, though one of the incumbents, said she does not want that cooperation to come at the expense of differing viewpoints.
“I don’t want group think,” she said. She praised the five-member Orinda City Council for its “great deal of civility” and “good faith” in addressing issues facing the city, including economic development, emergency preparedness, infrastructure and public safety. She said she welcomes the differing viewpoints that council members bring to the table.
The three incumbents said the current council works well together and that all five council members listen to one another, even when they disagree on issues.
Political newcomer Juana Rudati, however, said she was compelled to enter the race because she saw enough “gaps” in the way the current council conducts business to merit a fresh perspective.
Rudati, a researcher and physicist by training, sees herself as someone who is going to dig in deeper and bring a different, more evidence-based perspective to key issues, such as fire preparedness, school safety and government transparency.
She is also challenging three incumbents who have prior campaign experience and public records from their service on the council.
All four were interviewed separately, and answered questions about a variety of issues facing the city. (Councilmembers Darlene Gee and Kara Hoxie are not up for re-election until 2028.)
Economic development
Long-empty buildings and vacant storefronts are not unique to Orinda, but with a relatively small commercial area, every unfilled gap matters.
Malkani said part of the problem is that Orinda was so “anti-growth” for so long that it has been challenging to “bring back” the vibrancy of the city since many residents got used to going elsewhere for restaurants and a night out, or shopping opportunities.
“I think we need to have a mix of businesses,” said Malkani. She said we need to retain our small businesses but at the same time, attract more “anchor businesses” that could include a deli, healthy food chains and other missing gaps in the local food service economy.
“Both sides (of town) have real vacancy issues,” Iverson said, noting that this is a challenging issue. Local property owners set the rents and make the decisions on whether to upgrade properties that are vacant, and the city can only encourage them to find tenants.
The city has made real progress in some areas, with CreekHaus coming later this year, and Sorso, in Theatre Square, already open. In addition, the Siesta Valley Bowl is hosting live music on a regular basis, and, Iverson said, “We want to build on that momentum.”
Riley agreed that economic development is “very important” and said the city has been doing a lot behind the scenes to engage with key property owners to learn their motivations and see if the city can help make their property more attractive for development. The city has recently adopted a façade improvement program that is also generating significant interest around town.
Rudti wanted to get “more data” to see what “we have done right,” and how to bring more businesses to town. She also wanted to study the impact that major events have on our local businesses, such as shows at the theater and activities at the community center.
Emergency evacuation
“It is incredible how many different teams (discussing emergency evacuation) we have established in the past year,” said Riley, who said the city has made great strides in fire preparedness and evacuation plans.
Riley said she is “so informed” and “we need to keep educating people” about what to do in the case of evacuation. Riley said she feels “confident” about the city’s fire preparedness, though she warns “there are still going to be great risks.”
Iverson and Malkani echoed Riley’s conclusions on fire preparedness, and said the city has achieved a lot on the issue, yet more remains to be done.
For example, the city is currently considering a plan to build a third pedestrian/bike lane on Moraga Way that could be used by emergency vehicles in the event of an evacuation.
“It’s an incredibly big and expensive project,” Malkani said, noting that it will require regional collaboration and funding from state and federal sources to have any chance of obtaining the money to use eminent domain to buy the property necessary for the development of the third lane.
Rudati had also done a lot of research on the issue and said, “I think we can do more.” She feels the city needs to pursue more undergrounding of the PG&E power lines in certain key evacuation areas, but acknowledges that this is also a hugely expensive undertaking that will require outside funding and collaboration with PG&E.
“We need the backup plan now,” Rudati said. She said in the Paradise fire there were a number of established “safe areas” that helped shelter people who could not get out immediately, and this is an alternative to trying to evacuate large numbers of people in a short time span.
Ivy Drive, traffic congestion and student safety
Possibly one of the most well-known and contentious issues in recent years is the school-related traffic jam in the Moraga Way and Ivy Drive corridor. The city has banned a left turn onto Ivy Drive off Moraga Way in the mornings and worked to shut down other shortcuts to and from Del Rey elementary, Orinda Intermediate School (OIS) and Miramonte High School, all of which are in close proximity.
Rudati challenged the status quo, saying that she would get rid of the “no left turn on Ivy Drive” restriction and go back to allowing it. Rudati said the current ban is the “worst situation possible” because it diverts more cars to make a left turn on Coral Drive, which has even more younger school children on that street.
“My bet is, that will work, but we need to test it,” Rudati said, adding that this is something that was called for in a study by the city’s Transportation Safety Advisory Commission and she does not know why this key recommendation has not been implemented.
The three incumbents all listed a number of the other things that have been done to try to improve traffic congestion and safety in the area. “Smart” traffic lights, flashing crosswalks and increased police presence are all part of the attempt to ease the persistent congestion before and after school.
“It is a problem with no apparent good solutions,” Malkani said, noting that all the schools starting around the same time just puts so many vehicles in the area with school age children. “We need to figure out how to get people out of their cars.”
“Nothing is going to be perfect,” Riley said, who agreed that a lot has already been done, yet a significant unresolved problem remains.
“We are not even close to done,” Iverson concluded, who called for more kids walking, biking and busing in the area.
Senior Services
Approximately 30% of Orinda residents are 60 or older, according to Census Reporter, an open source tool that makes official census data easier to access.
But despite that percentage, senior services have not been a big issue in the city.
“Who’s asking? Nobody has asked for more senior services,” said Iverson. Iverson, though, also pointed out that social isolation is a major issue, and feels the council should look more closely at dealing with that problem.
“It hasn’t come up,” said Riley about senior citizen services, noting that the city does provide some support for seniors through programs such as ridesharing.
The city spends comparatively little on senior services compared to surrounding cities such as Lafayette, Walnut Creek and Berkeley.
“We can always do better,” said Malkani, but defended the city’s present efforts. “There is no line item (in the budget) since it is integrated into everything we do,” she said.
“That is an easy answer for me. Absolutely. We should definitely support (senior citizens’) needs,” said Rudati. Rudati said she would like to dig in deeper on this issue and find out “what the gaps are” in terms of senior needs and how to get the most “bang for our buck.”
For more information about the upcoming Nov. 3 election, visit the city website at cityoforinda.gov/383/Election-Information.
