San Ramon: Partnerships, projects among themes in State of the City address

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San Ramon Mayor Bill Clarkson highlighted key city accomplishments and public projects from the past year during his State of the City address Thursday afternoon, with partnerships a common thread throughout much of this year’s speech.

“I look around this room and I see the leaders … and all the things that we do and how we work together. Whether it’s a dispatch center or a new school, we always check our egos at the door,” the sixth-year mayor said. “We find ways to make things work.”

Clarkson delivered his 36-minute speech to more than 200 city officials, regional government representatives, business professionals and other community members at a luncheon event sponsored by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce.

Though a gray, rainy afternoon outside, it was mostly sunny skies inside the San Ramon Marriott on Thursday as Clarkson described a catalog of city achievements from the previous year.

San Ramon saw the completion of several notable public projects, all the result of pivotal partnerships, Clarkson said.

He pointed first to the new San Ramon Valley 9-1-1 Communications Center, a joint emergency dispatch center between the police department and the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District that went online last year.

San Ramon also welcomed its new, two-story City Hall, which opened last spring at 7000 Bollinger Canyon Road as a result of a trade agreement with Sunset Development.

The city is using the proceeds from the sale of the old City Hall site on Camino Ramon to help fund renovations at the San Ramon Library, located across the street from the new City Hall.

Those renovations are creating more usable public space and other upgrades, and the revamped library is set to reopen on April 15, its 28th anniversary, Clarkson said. “Except for the bricks on the outside, it’s an all-new library.”

The Dougherty Valley’s fifth elementary school, Bella Vista, also opened during the past year. Clarkson credited the city, San Ramon Valley school district, Contra Costa County, developer Toll Brothers and local voters — who approved the school district’s facilities bond in 2012 — for all working together to help Bella Vista come to fruition.

Another project Clarkson spotlighted was the East Bay Regional Park District and the city partnering to bring new rest stops with shade, water and seats along the Iron Horse Regional Trail through San Ramon.

He also praised the San Ramon Historic Foundation and the county for contributing toward planned reconstruction to help preserve the barn at Forest Home Farms, which dates back to the early 1850s and is believed to be the oldest building in San Ramon.

“If we don’t do something to it quick, we’re going to lose that structure. And San Ramon has lost most of our old, historic structures,” Clarkson said, explaining why preserving the barn is a priority for the city.

In providing updates on other aspects of the city government, Clarkson commended San Ramon’s record on public safety, which he called “the most important thing we do as a city.”

“This is a safe place to live,” he said, noting lists that ranked San Ramon among the safest cities in California and the nation.

Clarkson acknowledged that traffic congestion on Bollinger Canyon Road, especially near Interstate 680, “can be very frustrating” and that the city is working to find solutions.

In conjunction with the planned City Center Bishop Ranch, a $12.5 million roadway improvement project will occur on Bollinger Canyon Road to widen part of that stretch near the new retail and entertainment hub, according to the mayor.

“It will still be congested at times, but the argument that I make is that will be a small price to pay to have a vibrant downtown,” he said.

The city is also working to find ways to improve the I-680 and Bollinger Canyon intersection and ramps, as well as to apply for grant funding to bring an overpass for the Iron Horse Regional Trail at Bollinger Canyon, Clarkson added.

City officials hope the City Center, being constructed by Sunset Development, will help improve the city’s sales tax base, Clarkson said, while noting that the city is focused on other ways to maintain “a robust, tax-paying retail base.”

“We have a subcommittee … that’s looking at ways that we can maintain our retail base, making sure that retail tax-paying businesses are not getting crowded out by other businesses that don’t pay sales taxes,” he said. “We have to maintain our retail base and our restaurant base because those are great places for our taxes but also we enjoy going to our restaurants.”

The City Center project is part of a changing vision for Bishop Ranch, often thought of solely as a business park, according to the mayor.

“I can see (Bishop Ranch) seeing themselves now as not just a business park, but as an entertainment center, as a retail center and also as a housing center,” he added.

Clarkson said he also sees Bishop Ranch becoming the “third leg” of high-tech business hubs in the Bay Area, joining Silicon Valley and San Francisco, because of the number and variety of well-recognized technology firms with offices at Bishop Ranch.

Enhancing open space also remains a high priority for the city, the mayor said.

“We want to have bookends of open space on both sides of San Ramon,” Clarkson said. “We want to establish that if we’re going to continue to build new things in San Ramon, let’s do it on the inside where we already have homes, and try to save and preserve open space while being respectful of property rights.”

After another positive budget year, city officials are now looking at possibly revising the policy regarding budget reserves, with nearly $32 million there now, Clarkson said.

A city consultant has recommended the city maintain about half that in reserves in case of a multi-year economic downturn, so the council may soon weigh whether to spend that $15 million on current infrastructure needs or other projects, Clarkson added.

Another key moment for the council last year — among the “most important decisions we make,” according to Clarkson — was appointing a new city manager, Joe Gorton, who was the city’s police chief.

“A number of employees came up to me … and said we made a great choice. He’s a good fit for the organization. He’s approachable. He’s a smart guy,” Clarkson said, “We are thrilled to have Joe Gorton as our new city manager. He’s great.”

The mayor said another of his proudest moments — the “gold standard” accolade in his eyes — was when Money Magazine ranked San Ramon as Northern California’s top city in its “Best Places to Live 2016” countdown.

Clarkson also talked about two challenges he sees for San Ramon in the year ahead: the future of the San Ramon Golf Club and Dougherty Valley neighborhood median trees.

The current owner of the golf club has expressed interest in building new homes on a portion of the course not currently zoned for residential to help the property thrive financially, though no applications have been submitted to the city.

With specifics still unclear, Clarkson said he wanted the audience to understand that any rezoning proposal would need four-fifths approval from the Planning Commission and City Council.

“The other thing to keep in mind is that you cannot force any private business here to stay in operation,” he added. “So if they choose to not continue to be a golf course and close the golf course, there’s nothing we can do to prevent them from closing the golf course.”

As for the Dougherty Valley trees, many are causing damage on public and private property near the street-side medians, so the city is looking at ways to address the problem, Clarkson said.

The city is working to form a citizens’ committee to work with tree and landscape specialists and develop recommendations for “a solution that is fiscally responsible but also listens to the concerns of the residents,” the mayor added.