Meet The Danville Candidate: Pratima Sonavne

DANVILLE, CA — Patch reached out to all three at-large candidates for Danville Town Council with questions we feel San Ramon voters want to know. Three candidates are running for two seats: one belonging to incumbent Robert Storer, and the other to Karen Stepper, who chose not to run for re-election.

We reprinted their answers verbatim.

Below, read the responses of Pratima Sonavne, an HR executive.

What is your educational background?

Bachelors in Accounting, Economics and foreign trade, Masters in Human Resource Management, PMP certified by PMI, Certification in Organizational Development

What is your professional background?

20+ years as an operational and HR leader — running teams, managing budgets, resolving conflict, and forcing people who disagree to find common ground anyway. That's the job of a Council seat, whether people admit it or not. I'm also a small-business owner — I've fought through permitting, regulations and payroll myself. I don't need government explained to me. I know exactly where it helps small businesses, and where it's just in the way.

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

No, I have never held public office — this is my first run, and I'm the first in my family to seek one. But 20+ years leading teams, managing budgets and resolving conflict as an operational and HR leader, plus running my own small business, means I've already done the real work of the job: making hard calls, finding common ground, and delivering results. I don't need a title to know how to lead.

What are the top three issues facing Danville right now?

1. State-mandated housing growth: Danville must plan for 2,241 new units by 2031 — a fourfold jump — despite being largely built out. State law limits our control, forcing rezoning of sites like shopping centers and raising real concerns about traffic, trees, wildfire access and neighborhood density.

2. E-bike and e-scooter safety: Fast riders and repeated collisions, mostly involving kids under 16, led the Town to ban riding in parks and cap trail speeds at 15 mph in 2026. That's a start, but residential streets still need clear rules and real enforcement.

3. Aging infrastructure amid growing traffic: Storm drains, pavement conditions and outdated signals are under strain as development adds pressure to corridors like Diablo Road and El Cerro Blvd. Deferred maintenance today becomes a far more expensive emergency tomorrow.

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

In my first year, I'd push the Town to adopt a new standard for traffic analysis on major projects — one that reports what residents actually experience, not just technical thresholds. That means minutes of delay, queue lengths, whether drivers wait through more than one signal cycle, school congestion, and real travel-time changes on corridors like San Ramon Valley Blvd, Hartz Ave, Railroad Ave, Diablo Rd, Sycamore Valley Rd, Camino Tassajara, school routes and the I-680 interchanges. Alongside that, I'd bring forward clear e-bike safety rules: education first for young riders, school and parent partnerships, and real enforcement against unsafe passing, sidewalk riding and high-powered motorcycles disguised as bicycles. Growth needs honest analysis; safety needs real follow-through — both are achievable in year one.

How should Danville meet its state-mandated housing obligations while addressing affordability and preserving the qualities residents value about the town?

Danville must meet its state housing obligations — we have no choice. But we do have a choice in how we do it. I support creative, place-based solutions like carefully designed Cottage Commons: small clusters of 1– and 2-story homes arranged around shared courtyards on already-identified commercial, church, and Town-owned sites.

This approach is not the easiest path. High construction costs, financing hurdles, and the need for strong design standards make it more demanding than simply approving taller apartment buildings. It will require Town leadership to streamline permitting for modular construction, offer targeted incentives, and insist on rigorous architectural compatibility. That work is worth doing.

What matters most is that these Commons can be designed to look and feel like Danville — pitched roofs, traditional materials, mature landscaping, underground or tuck-under parking, and densities that respect our low-rise character. Done right, they add homes without turning our neighborhoods into something unrecognizable. Done poorly, they fail both the mandate and our community. My commitment is clear: we will meet the numbers, prioritize permanent affordability through tools like community land trusts, and never sacrifice the safety, scale, and small-town quality that make Danville the place people choose to live. I will fight for solutions that keep Danville Danville.

How can Danville best support its downtown and small businesses?

Downtown is the heart of Danville. Supporting our small businesses means making Hartz Avenue a place people want to linger, return to, and spend — without creating gridlock.

My proposal: launch "Hartz Evenings + Village Stage." We'd permanently expand outdoor dining and parklets, then activate the street three evenings a week with coordinated late hours, live music, and rotating micro-markets — alongside more events, fairs, concerts, and community shows at the Village Theatre to draw people downtown after work and on weekends.

To keep traffic manageable, every activation comes with a simple traffic plan: temporary signal timing adjustments, clear wayfinding to underused parking, and parking incentives tied to a Local Passport app — spend at three downtown businesses, unlock free parking or priority Theatre tickets. That rewards local spending while cutting down on circling and congestion.

The result: a downtown that keeps its small-town character, supports merchants, fills the Theatre, and protects the traffic flow residents care about — with property owners, businesses, the Theatre, and the Town all sharing the effort.

Danville's downtown should feel alive, local, and easy to visit. That's how we keep our small businesses thriving, and Danville feeling like Danville.

Danville and many other Tri-Valley communities have recently seen a rash of commercial burglaries. How can we better prevent this from happening?

Recent early-morning smash-and-grabs — including 14+ Danville businesses hit across Crossroads and Hartz Avenue in early September 2026, plus larger sprees in Pleasanton and earlier incidents in Livermore, San Ramon and Dublin — show organized crews targeting restaurants and shops for cash and quick entry through glass. No single fix eliminates the risk, but layered deterrence works.

What businesses can do now: empty or minimize overnight cash, install reinforced glass or security film, upgrade alarms with rapid police notification, and add bright exterior lighting and visible cameras covering entrances and parking. Danville offers free CPTED inspections — businesses should use them to spot vulnerabilities in layout, lighting and access.

What the Town should do: coordinate with Tri-Valley agencies on real-time intelligence sharing and joint overnight patrols on commercial corridors during the 3–6 a.m. high-risk window; expand license-plate reader coverage and make it easy to register private cameras with police; support merchant-funded overnight security patrols; and reassess police staffing to ensure adequate overnight coverage and fast response.

Long term: sustained regional task-force cooperation, educating new business owners on target-hardening, and keeping community reporting high. Better security, the right staffing, rapid multi-agency response, and reduced opportunity together bring these numbers down.

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

I bring a fresh, practical perspective, small-business ownership, and more than two decades of business, operations, and leadership experience. I am not running to change Danville into something different. I am running to make sure that as Danville grows and evolves, we protect the quality of life, financial strength, neighborhoods, safety, and community character residents value. That experience shapes how I approach the issues that matter: creative housing solutions that meet state mandates without eroding what makes Danville special, real support for downtown businesses that includes events, traffic management, and Village Theatre activations, and stronger prevention after recent commercial burglaries — including a clear-eyed look at police staffing. I listen first, reject one-size-fits-all answers, and insist every decision keeps Danville feeling like Danville.