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Voters in parts of San Ramon will choose between Donald Downey and Kismat Kathrani in the race to succeed Ed Duarte on the Dublin San Ramon Service District board. The seat represents Division 2, which encompasses the southern end of the city and the Dougherty Hills.
Duarte is wrapping up a temporary 15-month term. He was appointed to the seat last year to replace the retiring Ann Marie Johnson. He previously served on the board from 2012 to 2020.
Kathrani and Downey are competing for a four-year term, with both campaigns emphasizing the importance of the often overlooked special district tasked with providing wastewater and recycled water treatment and drinking water to Dublin and a swath of San Ramon.
Downey is a retired petroleum geologist with Chevron who has turned his attention to nonprofit and volunteer work supporting Pearl Harbor survivors. He said he decided to run after participating in the service district’s Citizens Water Academy and touring its facilities.
“The water academy teachers encouraged us to run for the board, and I enthusiastically support their work,” Downey said.
Kathrani, a tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, is appearing on local ballots for the second time this year after finishing second in the June primary race for county assessor. He said he is running for the service district board because “water is one of the most essential services government provides.”
“After years as a resident, business owner and community member here in San Ramon, I want to bring an engineer’s discipline and a business owner’s accountability to the district that delivers it,” Kathrani said on his campaign website.
Both candidates emphasized the importance of maintaining the district’s infrastructure as population growth trends upward, with Kathrani saying he would seek to “modernize aging infrastructure before it becomes a problem.”
“I will prioritize maintaining and upgrading sewer lines, wastewater facilities, pumps and treatment systems to reduce the risk of failures, overflows and costly emergency repairs,” Kathrani said. “We should invest proactively in preventive maintenance and long-term infrastructure planning while meeting high environmental and public health standards.”
Downey said that in addition to supporting the water needs of a growing population, the district’s future challenges include a drop in funding once the current population growth peaks.
“The population surge has driven significant increases in fees paid as the system has been built out,” Downey said. “This income will drop sharply once the buildout is complete.”
Downey also pointed to climate change and system maintenance as challenges for the district.
“Cycles of drought and heavy rainfall will probably increase in amplitude, and DSRSD must plan for extremes,” Downey said. “I support the Sites Reservoir and Chain of Lakes projects to increase our water supply. DSRSD should also strongly consider drilling water wells. Maintenance is constant, and DSRSD should not defer inspection and upkeep of its infrastructure to save money in the short term.”
Kathrani said he would bring a business perspective to addressing the district’s present and future challenges, as well as work to prevent further rate increases and to increase community engagement and transparency.
“As an engineer, MBA, entrepreneur and longtime business owner, I look at operations, budgets, technology, accountability and long-term planning with a practical mindset — the kind of perspective the district needs,” Kathrani said.
He said that water challenges throughout the state “require long-term thinking.”
“I will support practical water conservation, responsible expansion of recycled water, wastewater reuse opportunities and regional partnerships that strengthen our community’s water security,” Kathrani said.
Downey pointed to his own professional background and perspective.
“I am a scientist with geological and engineering training, over 40 years of experience, and I enthusiastically support our water treatment staff,” Downey said.
More on Kathrani’s campaign is available at kismatforpeople.com.
More on Downey’s campaign is available at sites.google.com/view/dondowneyfordsrsddiv2/home.
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