Meet The Pleasanton Candidate: Vin Kruttiventi

PLEASANTON, CA — Patch reached out to all the candidates for mayor and city council in Pleasanton.

Two candidates each are running for mayor, District 1, and District 2.

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We sent out questionnaires and reprinted their answers verbatim. Below, read the responses of Vin Kruttiventi, who's running in District 1 against Kathy Narum. The seat is vacant after incumbent Jeff Nibert chose not to run for re-election.

What is your educational background?

Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering, Osmania University. Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Applications.

What is your professional background?

Entrepreneur and business owner for more than 20 years. Founder and CEO of A5, a global business and technology consulting firm. Founder of multiple retail and services businesses and technology startups. Chairman of the Vinay Kruttiventi Foundation, which mentors small businesses and nonprofits. Husband, father, and Pleasanton resident.

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

I have not held city or county office. I am running for Pleasanton City Council District 1 because this is the government that decides police and fire response times, library hours, and whether Hacienda stays empty and if we can put Stoneridge mall to better use.

What are the top three issues facing Pleasanton right now?

The structural budget deficit of $10M+/year. Costs keep outrunning revenue. The last budget cut library hours, thinned park work, and used pension funds to get through the year. That is not a fix. We dipped in to pension funds to balance this year.

Empty commercial space. Hacienda and our business parks have vacancies that do not pay for police, fire, roads, or parks. Stoneridge needs to produce again.

Office vacancies at ~21–22%.

Public safety and response. Police emergency times have missed the city's 4 minute goal. Fire is at 8.5 minutes, call volume at 160% and no headcount added since 1995. Residents and shop owners felt it after the September commercial burglaries. Safety is a core service, not a leftover.

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

In year one, I would treat Hacienda, Stoneridge, and other commercial vacancies as a revenue project, not a planning afterthought. I would sit down with property owners, brokers, businesses, and city staff to understand what is keeping spaces vacant, identify barriers we can control, speed up the permitting process, and measure occupancy the way a business measures sales.

The goal is simple: more occupied space, a stronger tax base, and less pressure to cut services or raise taxes on families. I also want to understand why businesses are choosing Fremont, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, or Danville over Pleasanton and what we can do to make Pleasanton more attractive for business investment.

Pleasanton has faced projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls. What services would you protect, and what combination of spending reductions or new revenue would you support to stabilize city finances?

Protect police, fire, road and park maintenance, and core library service. Those are why people live here.I would not start with a new tax on residents. Voters already rejected that path. Stabilize the budget by growing revenue: fill Hacienda and other business parks, revitalize Stoneridge, and collect what the city is already owed. Pair that with real efficiencies, not across-the-board cuts that hit the counter people use.One-time raids on pension and retiree funds buy a year. They do not fix a structural hole. Spend less on waste. Keep the services. Grow the base.

Pleasanton must accommodate substantial new housing growth, including redevelopment around the Stoneridge Shopping Center. Where should new housing be concentrated, and how should the city address affordability, traffic and infrastructure impacts?

New housing should go where the city has already planned for activity: Stoneridge and other commercial and mixed-use sites, not into established single-family neighborhoods in District 1.Stoneridge can take housing if it comes with retail, jobs, and a plan for traffic, water, and schools. Affordability is not created by dumping units onto streets that cannot handle them. It is created by building in the right places and making the infrastructure keep up.I will judge every project on three questions. Does it fit the street? Who pays for the roads, water, and public safety it requires? Does it help the tax base or just add cost?

Pleasanton businesses have experienced a recent series of burglaries and break-ins. What specific steps should the city take to reduce property crime and support affected businesses?

On September 10, burglars hit 25 Pleasanton businesses, mostly restaurants. Police have made an arrest and the investigation is regional. That is a city service test.

Keep patrol strength and overnight coverage in commercial corridors, including Stoneridge and Santa Rita. Expand camera and lighting partnerships with property owners. Set a fast business-to-police alert after smash-and-grabs. Treat commercial burglary as a priority case, not a property-loss footnote.

Do not pull police special-program funding while we tell shop owners to buy better glass. Response times and follow-through are how you support the businesses that pay the bills.

Measure HH would increase Pleasanton's hotel tax from 10% to 12%, generating an estimated $2.3 million annually for general city services. Do you support or oppose the measure, and how should the additional revenue be used if it passes?

I have not endorsed Measure HH. The question also has the current rate wrong. Pleasanton's hotel tax is 8 percent, unchanged since 1983. HH would raise it to 10 percent in 2027 and 12 percent in 2028. Overnight guests pay it, not homeowners.

Dublin is 8 percent today, same as Pleasanton. Livermore is 8 percent. If Pleasanton jumps and the city next door does not, some group business will price-shop across the street. I need that impact in writing from staff and from our hotel operators before I tell voters to raise the rate.HH is not the budget fix.

The city already takes in about $5.3 million a year from the current hotel tax. The extra money, if any, should go to police, fire, streets, and parks. The real revenue work is still filling Hacienda and rebuilding Stoneridge. I will vote on HH as a resident after that homework. I will not pretend a hotel tax replaces a tax base.

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

Kathy Narum's case is experience. She served on the City Council from 2013 to 2022. Those were years when the structural deficit and maintenance backlog grew. After leaving the council, she was appointed to Zone 7 and then elected to a four-year term in 2024. Now, halfway through that term, she is running for City Council again and has said she will resign from Zone 7 if she wins.

I have run companies, made payroll, and watched a balance sheet. District 1 Councilmember Jeff Nibert and former Mayor Karla Brown have endorsed me to grow city revenue and spend responsibly. District 1 needs Hacienda full, Stoneridge working, and services funded without a new tax on families. That is the job I am asking for.