Bill Clarkson and Scott Perkins, arguably the hardest working candidates in the campaigns, deservedly grabbed the most votes as many predicted. Top council fundraiser Phil O’Loane clearly bested Abram Wilson’s tepid campaign efforts, sealing the deal for the newcomer and sending Wilson home without a seat on the dais for the first time in a dozen years.

Earlier this summer the mayoral race looked far closer as Carol Rowley tapped her extensive network enabling her to take a commanding fundraising lead. At that point Clarkson seemed the scrappy underdog.

Then mid last month the Valley Times endorsements were published, which I suspect was the turning point for all the races. That significant endorsement, more than any other single factor, seemed to catapult Clarkson into a lead he then never lost.

In the final weeks Clarkson stayed on his original messages of inclusiveness, increased transparency, and listening to residents more. That clearly resonated with voters as his lawn signs started growing like dandelions. Clarkson signs became markedly more evident in our central and southern city neighborhoods, although eventually I saw patches scattered throughout the Dougherty Valley as well.

Meanwhile Rowley’s campaign material alternately offered a heartfelt personal tale of two residents who met via Rowley’s efforts, and a more traditional political mailer puffed-up with a set of “accomplishments” that many insiders knew was a stretch at best.

During taped interviews, it seemed Rowley’s strategy was to enlist virtual running mates- either city manager Greg Rogers (for financial matters), or the current council cabal (for anything else of substance). Her lack of a track record as an independent leader became all too obvious the more the campaign wore on. In the end it became not a call of whether Clarkson would take the race, but rather, by what margin.

In the campaign for city council, top vote getter Perkins took to the streets early building a solid base of supporters, if not large donors. I was surprised to find his business card with a personal note on our gate one weekend in September upon returning from a trip. I can’t think of anything more the opposite to a robo-call than a hand-written note. I felt less special but no less impressed when I discovered Perkins did that often around town.

By the campaign’s final days Perkins’ house by house base had apparently swelled into a formidable voter block. Perkins admitted in the process he had learned a lot about what our residents really want (hello City Center). Clearly this time intensive strategy was working, as his lawn sign numbers began to rival those of Clarkson’s, with many homes showcasing both names.

Undoubtedly Perkins also greatly benefited from his catbird spot in the middle of the ballot between newcomer O’Loane and a Wilson sequel. I suspect there were very, very few who voted an O’Loane / Wilson ticket. If not a first choice, Scott was the defacto second choice for nearly every voter. Sometimes in life you get the wind at your back.

While Wilson initially languished, O’Loane started fundraising in earnest with a strategy of repeating the winning No on Measure W campaign formula. Conversely, Wilson’s “campaign” eventually emerged but floundered with nearly invisible signs, impersonal mass robo-calls, few (no??) formal meet and greets, and multiple campaign finance filing errors resulting in an FPPC warning. We began to see previously stalwart Wilson supporters defecting to competing campaigns. By late October he had garnered only three San Ramon resident donations over $100. At that point the outcome of the council race seemed to be heavily favoring Perkins and O’Loane.

In addition to multiple large donations from San Ramon voters, O’Loane tapped many external supporters- from Joan Buchanan to the local Plumber’s union. He knew he needed a bigger than average campaign to not only educate voters on who he was, but also what he stood for. Beating a couple of entrenched incumbents is rarely an easy (or cheap) task and he knew it.

Clearly O’Loane too was helped mightily by the Times’ endorsement, and in the final analysis, likely that newspaper’s support was the rocket fuel he needed in a race against better known names.

From my catbird spot I’d say the results of the election are a grand-slam for San Ramon. In about 6 months I predict most who did not vote for the winning candidates will wonder why the heck they didn’t. Sometimes in life the wind is at your back.

A hearty congratulations to Bill, Phil and Scott.

As a postscript note, Sally Scholl won the pool for closest prediction for the mayor’s race, and a player wishing to remain anonymous won for his call of the council race. Both received a bottle of “The Prisoner” wine.  

San Ramon officials for years have displayed disdain for the city’s residents. On Nov. 8, voters can register their displeasure by reshaping the City Council.

We also got a closer look at Mount Zion, a smaller neighboring peak, that has been badly marred by 50 years of strip-mining. The State of California designated Mount Zion as a mineral reserve years ago to be used to supply the construction needs of Contra Costa County. The mining is ongoing and an unmistakable eyesore, but necessary I suppose. The top 40 acres of the mountain has been (so far) protected under the auspices of the Bureau of Land Management. Save Mount Diablo has helped keep that peak from being quarried with the rest of it. They tell me the entire mountain is supposed to be reclaimed at some point in the future, but the economic pressures to mine it to the ground are ever-present.

Undisputed King of Oak Hill

Oak Hill is a spectacular piece of land, a stone’s throw (or so it seemed) from the peak of the mountain. It’s filled with majestic oaks and other native plants, many of which were just beginning to bloom. The views to the west were absolutely stunning. We felt like we were in the middle of the Sierra foothills, but were only 40 minutes from home.

View East From Moss Rock

Next we were back on Marsh Creek Road heading south toward SMD’s other recent acquisition, Moss Rock. From the top of this property I was blown away by the east facing views of the Morgan Territory ridge. Everything looked too perfect. It was like a landscape painting of emerald hillsides studded with sprawling oaks under pale blue skies. Again, it was hard to believe we were so close to home, yet in another world.

Apparently a contractor had purchased this property with intentions of building a home and some sort of western town for his kids to enjoy. We found an abandoned skeet launcher along with spent shotgun shells. Unimaginable the target shooting didn’t unnerve the horsey neighbors with shots echoing through the canyon. The prior owner was able to get as far as clearing a pad for his home, installing some irrigation and even a fire hydrant half way up the hill before economic troubles forced his bail-out of the property. His loss, another SMD gain.

Rare Globe Lily

This property, although smaller and steeper, was also filled with oak trees, wildflowers and other rare and endemic plants including the Mount Diablo globe lily. This location, just below Mount Diablo State Park’s Morgan Ridge Trail near the Diablo Trail intersection, will become key to enabling access to those trails in the future.

At the bottom of the property there’s a vehicle bridge across Marsh Creek which is out of code due to a lack of side railings. Unfortunately it also enables jackassery as the lockable gate is positioned at the far end of the bridge instead of at the roadside entrance. Seth told us since they acquired the property, SMD have had to periodically clean up debris unloaded on the bridge or even into the creek below. It’s unbelievable that unloading trash into a creek is somehow ok in somebody’s mind out there.

SMD are hoping to auction off the naming rights of the bridge to the highest bidder in order to help defray some of the property’s purchase and restoration costs. As we hiked around I thought of a few good names in honor of friends or relatives who had passed, but the price they’re targeting for the privilege is beyond our means. But who can blame them as SMD will likely need to put another $50 thousand into these two properties for fencing and clean-up. Knowing Seth, I’m sure he’ll get the amount they need in whatever creative way he can. So… want to buy a bridge? Here’s where to do it.

Where Are They?

The other thing I’ll say about Seth is, you wouldn’t think it by looking at him, but that dude can hike a hill. I was in awe as he quickly and quietly distanced himself from us briskly climbing what felt like 45 degree plus inclines to the upper bounds of Moss Rock. He climbed it the way I thought he would instead attack a ham sandwich – with gusto and aplomb. Simply said, the guy has the legs of a mountain goat (fits with the personality I guess).

We had a great day and came away feeling proud of our support of SMD. Please consider supporting Save Mount Diablo on a regular basis yourself. Also consider joining them on a hike of one of the many properties they steward. SMD are right in our own backyard doing really important work to preserve as much of the mountain as possible for future generations. It’s hard to think of a better legacy.

You probably already know that most of our oil is imported. Alternatively, you might not know estimates indicate we have well over 100 years worth of natural gas reserves right here in the U.S. On the surface this might seem like a big “so what?”, but ending our dependency on imported oil is as much a national security issue as it is an environmental problem. Over our lifetimes we have participated in the greatest wealth transfer in history as we’ve sent our dollars to oil producing countries or regimes, many of whom don’t really like us all that much. That historical wealth transfer is now funding many efforts around the world to literally destroy us.

Ok, so how does that relate to San Ramon you might well ask. Pretty much every morning as I roll onto the freeway, I’m joined by compressed natural gas-powered (CNG) UPS trucks heading out for their deliveries. The company first deployed CNG-powered delivery trucks in the 1980s, converting traditional gas or diesel-driven vehicles to run on compressed gas. I’m proud that our city is home to such a large fleet of commercial CNG vehicles. It’s good for the environment and contributes to ending our dependence on foreign oil.

We might not see them so much around San Ramon, but another business neighbor of ours has shown awesome leadership with CNG vehicles. AT&T recently announced they had deployed their 2,000th CNG vehicle.

Also on my morning commute I typically pass several County Connection buses lumbering in and out of Bishop Ranch. I noticed those buses weren’t CNG powered. So I called their offices and a representative told me their fleet of 131 buses are primarily “clean” diesel, with a few hybrids which were put in service just last April. From what I’ve read, clean diesel is environmentally about as good as CNG, so that’s not the problem. The problem is diesel comes from oil.

County Connection’s board is made up of leaders from the various cities it serves. Council member Dave Hudson represents San Ramon. The leadership for changing our country’s consumption of oil will begin with government and forward-looking businesses like UPS and AT&T. If for-profit companies are able to generate a return on their CNG vehicles, why can’t our public service agencies like County Connection?

Of course San Ramon is unique in this realm as we’re also home to the headquarters of Chevron. If Chevron wanted to really get serious about its alternative energy efforts (as their ubiquitous TV commercials tout), what better place to prove it than in their own backyard? 

The problem with CNG vehicles for the rest of us is there are very few places to fill them up. Big boy Chevron can start that ball rolling by doing something very, very simple.  Just over the freeway from their front door is a Chevron service station on SRV Boulevard and Bollinger Canyon. The company could install a CNG pump (or pumps!) there. It’s that easy. We need at least 1 natural gas pump in town that is publicly accessible so the rest of us (including our many Bishop Ranch commuters) have an opportunity to purchase and operate CNG enabled cars  without range anxiety.  There should be no excuses, as the tax compromise signed by President Obama in December contained several CNG provisions, including a tax credit of up to $30,000 for a filling station operator to add a pump.

I’m not asking for a lot here. I’m sure the PR alone would be worth it for Chevron. (Maybe we could even get Boone Pickens to cut the ribbon on a grand opening!)