Meet The Dublin Candidate: Kiran Mohammad

DUBLIN, CA — Patch reached out to all candidates running for mayor and city council in Dublin, and reprinted their answers to our questionnaire verbatim.

In Dublin, three candidates are running for mayor, including incumbent Sherry Hu. Four candidates are running for Council District 2, in the northeastern part of the city; and two candidates are running for District 4 in the southeast, including incumbent Kashef Qaadri.

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Dublin switched to district-based elections in 2024, and this is the first year that Districts 2 and 4 are electing their own candidates.

Below, read the responses of Kiran Mohammad, an entrepreneur, writer, and nonprofit leader running for mayor.

What is your educational background?

I am a lifelong learner. I have interdisciplinary studies of the human condition and engineering. I am a published AIAA researcher examining human-centered spaceflight, sustainable systems, emerging space economies, and the relationship between people, technology, and complex environments. I have also pursued continuing education in technology, data analysis, networking, cybersecurity, as well as ethical hacking and I believe in bringing research-based thinking to local decisions.

What is your professional background?

I did not come to politics through politics. I worked one-on-one with families in crisis and with small businesses, streamlining finances and leaving them with a plan. I have run a nonprofit and a tenant rights guide business. I wrote a book on how our environments reflect inner friction and how to design lives that support flourishing. I also created virtual media series on how technology, institutions and policy shape behavior, and how to redesign systems for people.

Have you ever held public office, whether appointive or elective?

No. I am a first-time candidate and have never held elective or appointive office. I see that as a strength. I have not taken money from anyone with a special interest in Dublin's investments, whether a developer, a real estate interest or a political faction. I owe no one a favor, and I come to City Hall with fresh eyes, independent judgment and a track record of solving real problems for real people.

What are the top three issues facing Dublin right now?

1. Youth mental health and community connection. Our teens are struggling, and isolation is a big part of why. Dublin has grown fast, but disconnected neighborhoods and lives lived online do not build resilience. The city can do much more to create places and programs that bring people together. 2. Housing affordability. Young families, teachers, seniors and the people who work here are being priced out. We need more homes of every type, market-rate and affordable, near transit and jobs. 3. Responsive government and basic services. Residents want streetlights fixed, sidewalks repaired and their calls returned. Many residents, including AAPI neighbors, tell me they feel unheard by current leadership. City Hall should put everyday maintenance ahead of amenity projects and earn trust by listening.

What is one specific action you would prioritize during your first year in office?

I would launch a citywide Youth Wellbeing and Community Connection initiative. In my first 100 days, I would convene Dublin Unified, county behavioral health, students, parents, faith and cultural groups, and local nonprofits around one shared goal: making sure no young person in Dublin feels alone.

Together we would map gaps in teen mental health support, expand free, safe, teen-centered spaces and programming in our parks and libraries, make crisis resources like 988 visible everywhere young people are, and fund neighborhood events that bring Dublin's many communities together.

We would set measurable goals and report progress publicly. Connection is a protective factor, and a city can build it. This is the kind of coalition work I know how to do: uniting different groups who may disagree on other things around an outcome everyone wants.

Dublin continues to add housing and consider new developments. How should the city determine where additional growth belongs, and how should it ensure that transportation, schools and other infrastructure keep pace?

Growth belongs where the infrastructure already is: near our two BART stations, along transit corridors, in and around Downtown, and on underused commercial sites. Building infill near jobs and transit, rather than pushing into hillsides and open space, cuts traffic, protects our natural areas and makes the most of public investments we have already made.

I support meeting our state housing goals in good faith, allowing mixed-use buildings up to six stories near transit, setting minimum densities so infill sites are not underbuilt, and allowing more than single-family homes in our neighborhoods so that seniors, young families and local workers have options.

Keeping infrastructure in step means planning it together, not after the fact:

1. Schools: Coordinate with Dublin Unified early, sharing development pipelines years in advance so schools are planned alongside homes.

2. Transportation: Invest in transit-first, not road widening. Work with LAVTA on frequent bus service with dedicated bus lanes, build protected bike lanes and safe routes to school, and make it easy to reach BART without a car.

3. Fees and funding: Keep impact fees predictable and reasonable so mixed-income housing actually gets built, while making sure new development pays its fair share.

4. Transparency: Publish a public dashboard showing approved housing alongside school capacity, transit and road projects, so residents can see the city keeping its promises.

What is your vision for Downtown Dublin, and what concrete action would you take to create a more distinctive, walkable and economically successful city center?

I want Downtown Dublin to be the heart of our city: a place where you can walk to dinner, run into neighbors, hear live music in a plaza and support businesses owned by people who live here. Right now it is too often a place you drive to, park and leave.

Concrete actions I would take:

1. Make it walkable: Redesign key downtown streets with wider sidewalks, shade trees, safe crossings and protected bike lanes, and create a safe, pleasant walking and biking connection to West Dublin BART.

2. Bring people to live there: Streamline approvals for mixed-use buildings with homes above shops. Residents downtown mean customers every day, not just on weekends.

3. Create a true gathering place: Establish a central plaza with regular programming, such as night markets, farmers markets, and cultural festivals that celebrate the many communities that make up Dublin.

4. Back local business: Open a one-stop small business desk at City Hall, speed up permits, and activate vacant storefronts with pop-ups and local makers.

How do we best ensure Dublin remains a safe community?

Safety means more than police response. It means safe streets, timely help in a crisis, prepared neighborhoods and neighbors who know each other.

1. Responsive public safety: Keep Dublin police well staffed and focused on prevention and community relationships, so residents know their officers and response times stay fast.

2. The right responder for the right call: Pair police with trained mental health professionals for behavioral health crises, working with county mobile crisis teams. That gets people real help and frees officers for emergencies.

3. Prevention starts with youth: Investing in teen mental health, safe places to gather and mentorship reduces violence and self-harm before it happens.

4. Safe streets: Redesign dangerous intersections, slow speeding traffic near schools and parks, and build safe routes to school.

5. The basics matter: Working streetlights and well-lit sidewalks are public safety. I will make maintenance a priority.

6. Emergency and online readiness: Strengthen earthquake and wildfire preparedness, and use my cybersecurity background to help residents, especially seniors, protect themselves from scams and fraud.

Why do you feel you're a better candidate than your opponents?

Dublin needs vision paired with execution, and that is how I work.

As an AIAA researcher, creator of The Stability Layer, a publisher of two books, I study how systems fail and how to redesign them around people. As someone who has worked in homes and small businesses during crises, I have seen those failures up close. That is why I look at the whole system and plan for the long term, not band-aids.

The city's own forecast warns spending could outpace revenue by fiscal year 2031-32 if current trends continue. A surplus today is not a plan for tomorrow. I will be honest about our challenges and plan now.

I will fix the basics first. Potholes, streetlights and sidewalks come before big new projects, because trust is built on what people see every day.

I answer only to residents. I take no money from developers or political factions; my only compass is what is right for Dublin. I will unite, not divide, and bring every community to the table, especially those who feel unheard.