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Public commenters urge benches in Carmelita, remote participation and promote local AI tool; council greets new parks director
Summary
Residents urged council to consider installing benches in the Carmelita neighborhood, asked for remote meeting participation and criticized committee processes; a high-school volunteer demonstrated an AI chatbot; council welcomed new Parks and Community Services Director Henry Perez Alonso and approved the consent calendar.
During the public-comment period at the July 22, 2025 San Ramon City Council meeting, residents raised several matters including a request for benches in the Carmelita neighborhood, a request to restore remote participation options, and a demonstration of a local AI tool. The council also welcomed Henry Perez Alonso as the new Parks and Community Services director and approved the consent calendar unanimously.
Santosh Kanjula, a resident of the Carmelita community near the Daugherty and Bollinger intersection, asked the council to place an item on a future agenda to allow installation of benches or small passive-use features in the neighborhood. Kanjula said the nearest park is “a little over a mile away” and that elders and children lack nearby places to sit; he said the community is prepared to fund the work and asked staff to consider allocation of adjacent land or permissions needed for benches.
Several public commenters asked the council to restore or clarify remote participation. One speaker asked that the city explain why remote participation was not being allowed and requested the city agendize the matter. Council and staff said the city attorney circulated a memo on remote participation and that the next step would be at the council’s pleasure to agendize further discussion and possible reporting out from the city attorney.
One speaker using the name displayed in the record as “Taiwan is not a part of China” made remarks alleging Brown Act violations and criticizing city investments and use of Zoom; those comments included accusatory language about staff. Councilmember Shirok Kathrani responded during public comment that staff should not be attacked on the basis of nationality, saying, “I do not think we should be allowing speakers to attack our staff based on their nationality. That is ... not appropriate.” A finance-committee chair noted the committee had accepted public comment at its meeting and that an attendee had walked out, which staff said explained some confusion about answers being available at the committee.
A high school student and volunteer with Open Governance, Mahika Ramanan, described the group’s work summarizing meetings and demonstrated AskNoah, an AI chatbot trained on local information. “Our new feature I’m really excited about is AskNoah, an AI chatbot trained on local information,” she told council, and she invited residents to try the beta and provide feedback.
The council approved the consent calendar without any items pulled. Mayor Armstrong and members also introduced Henry Perez Alonso at the meeting; Steven Sadowski, city manager, presented Perez Alonso as the new Parks and Community Services director. Perez Alonso, a 12-year San Ramon resident with more than 30 years’ parks-and-recreation experience, said he was “really looking forward to working with the city staff” and praised the department team.
Council members used their reports to highlight upcoming programs: San Ramon’s Community Planning Academy starting Sept. 8 and the Police Department’s Community Academy beginning Aug. 20; the mayor also reminded residents that National Night Out is Aug. 5. Several council members reflected on last weekend’s Bollinger Canyon/Iron Horse Trail overcrossing ribbon-cutting and noted the bridge is already being used by residents.
No formal council action was required on the public comments themselves.
