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Residents in the southwestern district in San Ramon now have a new representative on the City Council, with Richard Adler selected to fill the position vacated by the city’s current mayor following his successful campaign for the seat in the 2024 election.
Adler was among four candidates the council selected for interviews from the pool of applicants at a special meeting on Jan. 6, with the council casting their deciding vote on his appointment at a subsequent meeting on Jan. 10. He was sworn in at the next regular council meeting on Jan. 14.
The District 2 seat was previously held by Mayor Mark Armstrong, who was elected in 2022 then beat out opponent Chirag Kathrani for the mayor’s seat left open by Dave Hudson, who announced in 2024 that he would not be seeking reelection. Adler is set to carry out the remainder of Armstrong’s term in the District 2 seat through 2026.
Kathrani was among the 12 qualified applicants for the seat whom the council did not move forward with interviewing, a point that he and his supporters underscored and protested at both the Jan. 10 and Jan.14 meetings, as well as launching a petition calling on the council to reconsider the appointment process and to respond to the numerous written comments from his supporters.
“This lack of acknowledgment is deeply concerning, especially since many of these emails expressed support for appointing the candidate for the recently concluded Mayoral election who obtained more than 11,000 votes as the council member for District 2,” Kathrani wrote in the petition.
Armstrong acknowledged the petition – which had 221 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon – at the council’s Jan. 14 meeting, but the council ultimately proceeded as planned. According to a spokesperson for the city, any petitions received by staff are automatically forwarded to the City Council for consideration – and staff themselves were not familiar with Kathrani’s petition at that point. Armstrong had not responded to a request for comment on the petition as of Tuesday evening.
Another prominent applicant for the seat was former councilmember Harry Sachs, who was also not selected for a formal interview.
“I trust the council’s process,” Sachs told DanvilleSanRamon. “There were several highly qualified persons who put their name forward and I think that’s good for our community.”
In addition to Adler, the council selected parks commissioner and Yes on Measure N campaigner Kyle Levy, attorney Tiffany Uhri Chu, and longtime resident and volunteer Baljit Sull for interviews ahead of their selection.
For his part, Adler was at the end of his first week on the job as of Tuesday, following his first ever meeting at the dais after being sworn in on Jan. 14.
“I believe that my background and experience has prepared me to serve on the San Ramon City Council,” Adler said in his application. “I work well with others to get goals done. I strongly believe in public service and giving back to my community.”
Like Levy, Adler was a member of the successful Yes on Measure N committee in the 2024 election, currently serving as president of the Dougherty Valley San Ramon Rotary Club and as a member of the San Ramon Valley Mental Health Advisory. He’s previously served as chair of the city’s Senior Advisory Committee.
In addition to working on the Yes on Measure N campaign, Adler was a supporter of District 4 Councilmember Marisol Rubio’s campaign for state senate in the 2024 election, hosting her campaign kick-off party at his home.
“We have challenges – we do have budgetary challenges, but I think working together and having a common purpose, and finding agreement on different areas as we work with the public is something that I would look forward to doing to solve the problems,” Adler said in his interview with the council on Jan. 10. We just celebrated 40 years – for the next 40 years I hope we have different people, but we all need to reach out and work together to do what’s best for San Ramon.”
The council deliberated following their interviews with the four candidates on Jan. 10, ultimately ranking their preferences before making and voting on a motion. Adler was the top choice for Rubio and District 3 Councilmember Sridhar Verose, the second choice for Armstrong, and the third choice for District 1 Councilmember Robert Jweinat.
The resulting tally showed Adler in first place among the four candidates with a score of 13, followed closely by Levy with a score of 12, Uhri Chu with a score of 11, and Sull with a score of 4.
