San Ramon City Council incumbents each face one challenger in November election

By Allen D. Payton

The incumbents facing re-election this year for San Ramon city council will run again and face opponents. Two other candidates have filed to run, one in each of the two council districts, in the November 3, 2026 Municipal Election.

In Council District 2 election incumbent Richard J. Adler faces Chirag Kathrani and in the race for Council District 4 incumbent and current Vice Mayor Marisol Rubio faces Jeffrey Joh.

District 2 Race

According to his bio on the City’s website, Adler has been a San Ramon resident since 1997. He worked for State Farm Insurance for 30 years primarily in the Auto Claims and Litigation unit.

Adler has been married to Melinda McDonald since 1981 and they have two sons, Matthew and Cameron who attended Neil Armstrong Elementary School, Pine Valley Middle School and Cal High.

He is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science in 1975 and earned a J.D. degree from Peninsula University College of Law, now Lincoln Law School in San Jose in 1985.

According to his LinkedIn profile, since May 2008 Adler has served as a volunteer teacher for Junior Achievement in San Jose.

His ballot designation is Appointed Incumbent and in Adler’s candidate statement he wrote, “My top priority is to ensure the public safety of our growing and diverse community.” He is “also committed to ensuring our residents have access to mental health resources and support services that promote the well-being of our community members, especially to our children who are exposed to negative social media influence.”

Adler’s other issue is “providing the city services that our residents expect by maintaining our 63 beautiful parks, trails, community centers, libraries, recreational centers, and art and cultural programs.”

His campaign Facebook page so far only has a photo of the councilman, the phone number he has listed has one too many digits and Adler’s campaign website, https://adlerforsanramon.com currently shows his logo and just the message, “Coming Soon.”  For more information email him at rickeagle@comcast.com.

Challenger Kathrani’s ballot designation is Founder / Entrepreneur. According to his candidate statement, Kathrani ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2024 in which he received 11,000 votes or 31%, and has since then, he founded and has written articles for OpGov.news, 57 as an author and two as a co-author, about city council and school board meetings and matters and also founded OpGov.ai, which links to the same website.

In the June primary election, he ran unsuccessfully as an independent for State Assembly in the 16th District, placing a distant third out of three candidates with 3.68% of the vote.

According to his LinkedIn profile, since January he has been a full-time Community Organizer for the State of California. A self-described serial entrepreneur, Kathrani has been the self-employed President of Mangalm LLC since Feb. 2022 which works “with brands to expand in (the) United States and Canada with complete visibility of their overseas operational activities from marketing, product availability and competitors’ strategy.” He has also been the CEO of Enterprise Mobility, Inc., a software Development and consulting company, in San Ramon since August 2013.

In 2021, Kathrani founded Lead For Earth, described as a non-profit dedicated to environmental sustainability and youth empowerment.

He earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Computers from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 1997.

On his campaign website, Kathrani writes several slogans including, “It’s time for Change, Checks and Balances are fundamental part of American democracy, San Ramon Council needs Checks and Balances. Your voice shouldn’t be shut, period, and Community First – Dedicated to listening and acting on behalf of District 2.”

His “Platform Priorities – My commitment to the residents of District 2 include, Your Voice Value, Restore Open Space Protection, Traffic Mitigation, Revive Local Economy and Responsive Representation. His “Key Priorities – Focused solutions for the challenges that matter most to our community” are Energy Costs & AI Industry, Small Business Protection, Democracy & Transparency, Affordable Housing & Integration, Plastic Reduction, Public Transportation and Appeal Fee Reform.

District 4 Race

According to her bio on the City’s website, Rubio served as Director and Vice President of the Dublin San Ramon Services District prior to winning her election for San Ramon City Council District 4 on November 8, 2022. She is running for a second term after having run unsuccessfully for State Senate against Tim Grayson in 2024.

Rubio earned a B.A. degree from the U.C. Berkeley with a major in Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurobiology emphasis. She also has a certificate in Spanish and Trauma and Resilience Training and three Associate Degrees in German, French, and Italian.

She has a daughter who is attending college.

Rubio’s ballot designation is Councilwoman / In-Home Provider and her candidate statement says during her four years on the council she has served on 19 “regional, six city advisory, three council and three city foundation committees.” Rubio also points out she’s the only woman on the council and is a “trained scientist, former educator, and longtime environmental, disability, labor, small business and foster care advocate.” She also lists her accomplishments and ends with, “While much has been accomplished, work remains to ensure that San Ramon continues to be a safe, vibrant, and innovated model city with a strong economy.”

She includes her campaign website, www.marisolforsanramon.com, but it is not currently working but Rubio can be followed on her Facebook page.

Challenger Joh’s ballot designation is Technology Strategist. In his candidate statement the challenger writes, San Ramon has been his “home since childhood…and growing up here and attending local schools gave him a deep commitment to the community.”

He has worked in technology start-ups and while attending U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. degree in Molecular and Cell Biology in 2015, Joh served on the City of Berkeley Transportation Commission. According to his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as, “Web3 hacker, investor, and community builder” and “Fixing science in my spare time.” His most recent job was as an Investment Manager with tokentus investment AG in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany from 2021-22.

He lists his priorities as, “First, balancing growth with preservation; Second, protecting local schools;. Third, making government fair and accessible; and Fourth, creating a connected community.”

Joh’s statement ends with “Jeffrey offers independent leadership free from special interest influence. With deep local roots and a global mindset, he will work every day to keep San Ramon vibrant and prosperous.”

On his campaign website Joh describes himself as “San Ramon-raised. Globally experienced. Community-First.” He offers, “Practical leadership for a thriving local economy, well-kept neighborhoods, and the everyday services that make San Ramon feel like home.”

Joh offers five priorities which he describes as “A practical local agenda for managed growth, strong families, responsive government, reliable infrastructure, and a civic life that brings neighbors together.” They are “Balancing Growth with Preservation, Investing in Youth & Families, Fair & Accessible Government, Infrastructure & Fiscal Discipline, and Culture & Local Vibrance”

For more information email Joh at sanramon@jeffreyjoh.com.