City Council Holds Town Hall Talks

San Ramon's elected leaders are reaching out to residents this summer by hosting a series of town hall meetings.

No official agenda, just a chance for the public to talk with civic officials in a less formal setting than a City Council meeting. Residents choose what to discuss.

But there's some talk that the timing of the town hall forums – a little more than three months before the Nov. 8 city elections – makes it look like they're politically motivated, a way for incumbents to raise their profiles on the brink of their re-election campaigns.

On the flip side, some of that talk may be politically motivated. The ones who brought it up : mayoral candidate Bill Clarkson and council candidate Phil O'Loane.

"It seems to be an effort to appear to be getting feedback after decisions have already been made," O'Loane said. "The time to get feedback is before you make decisions, not after the fact. That's just window dressing."

Mayor H. Abram Wilson acknowledged the three meetings will be the first of their kind in his eight years in office. But the motive behind them is far from political, he said.

"That’s absolutely ridiculous," said Wilson, who hasn't said whether he'll run for a council seat this year since he terms out as mayor in December. "We’re always looking for new ways to communicate with the citizens of San Ramon and these meetings are an excellent way to do that."

The town hall talks are scheduled for July 25, Aug. 11 and Aug. 22. A flier for the events encourages the public to "take advantage of these three opportunities to meet with city representatives."

Economic Development Director Marc Fontes brought up the idea of holding town hall-type forums at a May 25 Policy Committee meeting. He said they would "enhance communication with residents and the business community," according to minutes from that meeting.

Clarkson, , said it's fine if the idea came from a city employee. But he said it looks bad for the current council members to organize the meetings during campaign season — especially since they've never held them before.

O'Loane, a former planning commissioner, said a town hall format would have helped in the months leading up to the 2010 election. Last fall, a controversial general plan update that would have pushed San Ramon's urban growth boundary to include the unincorporated Tassajara Valley .

The measure lost with 71 percent of the votes against it. This was after several months of heated debate. The City Council insisted that expanding the boundary would give San Ramon more control over the area. Measure W opponents like O'Loane said the move would pave the way for future development.

Measure W lost, but debate over how to update the city's general plan – its long-term blueprint for future growth – continued. The only reason it went to voters in the first place was because changing an urban growth boundary requires voter approval.

After the election, the city drew up another version of the plan that's nearly identical to the one voters killed in November. The .

Clarkson said the City Council's support of general plan changes that the public opposed proved how out of touch they were with the people who elected them.

Like O'Loane, Clarkson said he thinks some town hall forums would have improved communication between council members and their constituents.

But better late – and from now on consistent – than never, Clarkson added. Wilson said he does hope the city will make these forums a regular occurrence.

"They are something that should be a continual process," he said. "A town hall meeting should be embedded in the culture of the city, not every eight to 10 years. (It's about) listening as opposed to presenting."

Wilson agrees.

"These town hall meetings are about communication, communication, communication," he said.

The forums may be new for San Ramon, but Wilson pointed to other programs in place that put residents in touch with their elected leaders. Government 101, for example, is a class that teaches the fundamentals of city government and how residents can get involved.

"The more the citizens know, the better we feel," Wilson said. "And as we grow, we want new residents to get an opportunity to meet us and city staff."

Meeting times and dates

• 7:30 p.m. July 25 at the Front Row Theatre, 17011 Bollinger Canyon Road
• 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Alcosta Senior & Community Center, 9300 Alcosta Blvd.
• 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at the San Ramon Community Center, 12501 Alcosta Blvd.