Rajan, Simmons Announce City Re-election Bids

Update Wednesday morning, Skrel report.

Kish Rajan and Bob Simmons are running for re-election to the Walnut Creek City Council.

In an email to Walnut Creek Patch, Mayor Simmons said, "I have decided to seek re-election to the City Council and will meet with the City Clerk on Monday to start the process."

Mayor Pro Tem Rajan confirmed his candidacy in a Tuesday telephone interview.

Monday, July 16, is the time that candidates can take out election papers from the city clerk. The candidate nomination period ends Aug. 10, unless an incumbent doesn't run, in which case the filing period is extended until Aug. 15.

The post of incumbent Council member Gary Skrel, a former mayor who has been on the council since 2000, is also up this year.

Skrel said he is undecided. In a Wednesday phone interview, he said, "Twelve years is 12 years but it's still a blast. I'm still deciding."

Simmons, elected to the council in 2008, is a retired lawyer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Simmons and his wife, Judy, moved to Walnut Creek in 1987, where they raised two sons who are now adults. As to political affiliation, he said he writes "decline to state" on the elections forms.

Rajan, elected to the council in 2008, is the mayor pro tem, meaning that the council has signaled its intent to appoint him mayor at a reorganization meeting after the November election, if Rajan is re-elected to the council.

Expected to run for the council is local small businessman Justin Wedel, who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2010 and has been vocal at occasional city meetings, objecting to policies of the council. Patch has an email out to Wedel seeking comment.

Wedel has made no formal announcement. He was introduced as an independent candidate for Walnut Creek City Council when he spoke in May to the Save Our Stanley group, which is fighting plans for a new event center at Rossmoor.

More from Kish Rajan

Rajan said he planned to run on his record of follow-through on positions taken in his first campaign in 2008, and he plans to work on the same issues in the next four years:

"I'm looking forward to talking to voters about what we said we were going to do and our ideas," Rajan said.

Rajan in 2010 promised attention to:

• fiscal soundness
• parking and transportation
• emphasis on neighborhoods and families.

He vowed to promote the city's fiscal soundness, said Rajan, "and I think we've done well."

As to strategy in parking and transportation policy, Rajan said, "I'm proud of the leadership I was able to display and continue to display."

"I've been an advocate for our parks, our pools, our sports fields — things that are about families' recreation and health," said Rajan, adding that he emphasizes giving public safety resources to maintain the security of neighborhoods.

Rajan, a Democrat, said he thought it was important to talk about city issues in a nonpartisan context. "One of the things I appreciate the most about local politics is its nonpartisan culture, he said, citing his "experience and exposure to Sacramento and even Washington, watching those systems work and fail to work."

On the Walnut Creek council, Rajan said, "We certainly don't agree on everything — we have different perspectives and values, but I don't think we ever compete with each other. When you take that out of the environment, it makes us far more functional and results-oriented."

A lifelong Walnut Creek resident, Rajan is married to Evie and they have three children. Rajan is director of North America mobile sales with SanDisk Corp.

Watch Patch for updates on candidacies.