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Issues

Mountain View is a well-run city with informed and engaged residents, high-quality infrastructure and amenities, and first-rate staff. I will work diligently to continue Mountain View’s tradition of good governance. Below are my positions on a variety of local and regional issues. If you have any questions, or if you would like my position on an issue that is not listed, please contact me at [email protected].

Top Three Priorities

  1. The crisis in housing affordability is a major challenge in Mountain View. Low- and middle-income residents are at risk of displacement, and many have already left the community. The homeless population has increased significantly. Businesses, schools, and city hall are struggling to recruit and retain talented employees. The housing crisis threatens our community’s socio-economic diversity and harms our quality of life.
  2. Traffic congestion is another severe problem. Many workers are spending hours commuting every day, and many use neighborhood streets to avoid gridlock on congested highways and expressways, which in turn creates a traffic safety problem.
  3. COVID recovery. The pandemic’s economic and health impacts are still causing harm to working families. Many renters suffer from “shadow debt,” which is the debt incurred from paying rent before rent relief was available (i.e. credit cards, personal loans). Many small businesses have struggled to recover or have closed permanently.

The regional and local jobs/housing imbalance is the root cause of the housing affordability crisis. For decades, cities throughout the Bay Area have fostered job growth but failed to build enough housing to accommodate the ensuing population increase. The long-term solution is to ensure that housing supply meets demand. I support increasing housing supply in the Change Areas designated in our General Plan: San Antonio, El Camino, North Bayshore, East Whisman. The city has adopted, or is working on, precise plans for each of these areas to ensure that development meets the needs of our city. I also support slowing down office development. It is irresponsible to accelerate job growth, which increases the demand for housing, without addressing the existing lack of housing supply.

Housing

Relevant Questionnaires: Livable Mountain View

I support carefully determined development standards that ensure new buildings transition appropriately to and integrate well with existing neighborhoods. The General Plan designates several “Change Areas” for significant growth: North Bayshore, East Whisman, San Antonio, El Camino Real, Moffett Blvd, and the Village Centers. We have already adopted precise plans with clear standards and design guidelines for four of these areas, and we are working on a precise plan for the Moffett Blvd corridor. Community benefits required from new development should be reinvested in the neighborhoods impacted by the development.

Jobs/Housing Imbalance

The regional and local jobs/housing imbalance is the root cause of the housing affordability crisis. For decades, cities throughout the Bay Area have fostered job growth but failed to build enough housing to accommodate the ensuing population increase. The long-term solution is to ensure that housing supply meets demand. I support increasing housing supply in the Change Areas designated in our General Plan: San Antonio, El Camino, North Bayshore, East Whisman. The city has adopted, or is working on, precise plans for each of these areas to ensure that development meets the needs of our city. I also support slowing down office development. It is irresponsible to accelerate job growth, which increases the demand for housing, without addressing the existing lack of housing supply.

Housing Element

Our City’s contribution to addressing the housing crisis will be achieved through our Housing Element, the state-mandated 8-year plan for housing growth, and through our General Plan. The state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for Mountain View is 11,135 net new housing units over the next 8 years, which is almost 400% higher than it was in the last Housing Element cycle. Fortunately, our forward-looking and community-supported General Plan, which was approved in 2012, already has the residential capacity to accommodate this growth. This means that we will likely not need to up-zone significant parts of the City, but instead use the housing growth potential in areas like North Bayshore, East Whisman, El Camino Real, and the General Plan Village Centers to achieve the RHNA obligation under state law. The Council must approve a Housing Element that complies with state law, which we anticipate doing late this year or early next year. The Housing Element will include programs that will help implement our General Plan, including identifying and removing major constraints that make it difficult to develop housing. We must also align our zoning with our General Plan land use designations, which is required under state law (SB 1333).

Re-zoning of Shopping Centers

The City does not have any choice regarding the zoning of Grant Park Plaza shopping center. However, please note that there is NOT a proposal to demolish the shopping center and build housing. No application for housing has been submitted. Nevertheless, state laws also tie the hands of the city council here for the following reasons:

First, the General Plan right now, and ever since its adoption in 2012, allows mixed-use development (including housing) at the "Village Center" designated sites, which include the Blossom Valley Safeway and Grant Road Nob Hill shopping centers. That means that today, without any additional action from the Council, an aggressive developer can submit an SB 35 application for a housing development as long as the project is code-compliant and in compliance with the provisions in SB 35. That project, if in compliance, would be required to be approved ministerially, without any community meetings at all. This is exactly what happened with Vallco in Cupertino.

Here is a map showing the areas of the City designated for housing or mixed-use development.
And here's a link to the General Plan.

Second, we are required to comply with a new state law that compels all cities to align their zoning with their General Plan. This law, SB 1333, applies to the Village Center sites because the zoning does not conform to the General Plan. Under state law, a housing project cannot be deemed non-compliant if the zoning and the General Plan do not align. As long as the project complies with the General Plan, it must be found compliant.

Here’s a pretty good summary of some recent state laws. See in particular AB 3194 and SB 1333.

Third, SB 330 prohibits down-zoning, so we cannot eliminate the residential capacity from the Village Center sites in the General Plan, including the shopping centers.

Fourth, there is an advantage to the City and the community in proactively applying a conforming zoning district to these shopping centers. This is because the General Plan is very high level and does not include many development standards or design guidelines. If we apply our own zoning, we can require commercial/retail space and provide other design guidelines or regulations that better guarantee outcomes that address the community's concerns. If we do not apply such a zoning with these regulations, then the developer would only need to comply with the high level requirements in the General Plan.

Fifth and finally, state law and the Housing Element process specifically requires the City to "affirmatively further fair housing." This means we must proactively and intentionally plan for affordable housing in areas with high-performing schools and are "resource-rich." This is an extremely difficult requirement for many communities to comply with. Atherton and Los Altos Hills must also get their Housing Elements certified by the state, and they are struggling to meet this requirement, as are Palo Alto and Los Altos. Cities used to be able to concentrate all of their affordable housing in less desirable areas or in areas highly unlikely to actually get developed, but state law no longer allows this. In other words, we cannot simply put all of the affordable housing in North Bayshore or East Whisman. We have a legal obligation to more equitably distribute it throughout the City, and for Mountain View, the simplest way is to use the existing General Plan to meet this obligation. If we do not, we will likely have to rezone/upzone other areas that do not currently allow residential uses. South of El Camino Real, this would be very challenging.

R3 Development Standards Update

I support updating the R3 development standards to incentivize housing types like stacked flats. Many R3-zoned properties have already redeveloped under the current standards, including 1555 W Middlefield, 2005 Rock St, 2310 Rock St, 570 S Rengstorff, and 1950 Montecito Ave. These projects demolished “naturally-affordable” housing; displaced current residents, including families; removed heritage trees; provided zero parks; and constructed (sometimes fewer) expensive, multi-story rowhouses and townhouses, with zero affordable units. Current standards produce housing types inappropriate for many residents, particularly seniors with mobility constraints. As older buildings near the end of useful life, updated R3 standards can produce better outcomes.

Anti-displacement policies

In November 2016, Mountain View voters approved Measure V, the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act. Measure V establishes a robust rent stabilization program and protects renters from evictions without cause. I supported Measure V in 2016, continue to support Measure V, and oppose repealing Measure V.

The jobs/housing imbalance is the root cause of the housing affordability crisis. The long-term solution is to increase housing supply to meet demand. However, the affordability crisis is hurting and displacing residents right now. Policies that address short-term needs are appropriate and urgent. Measure V provides relief to renters who otherwise would be at risk of displacement.

However, we began to see the demolition of some of these protected units. Some older and naturally affordable units were replaced by much more expensive townhomes in developments with fewer units. Although SB330 provided some relief, this state law expires in 2030. I support a local 1-for-1 replacement requirement ordinance that applies when rent-stabilized units are demolished similar, to the provisions for SB330. This policy must be implemented in conjunction with the R3 development standards update.

I support creating an acquisition program for older apartments and exploring policies to allow tenants or non-profits to reasonably compete in the market to purchase these properties, including exploring a Community / Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA/TOPA) and seeking funding opportunities, including from a potential ballot measure.

Homelessness

I support participating in a regional effort to identify appropriate locations, including within Mountain View city limits, for permanent homeless shelters in northern Santa Clara County, funded jointly by the County and northern Santa Clara County cities.

I strongly support rapid re-housing and other homelessness prevention programs. “Housing first” and homelessness prevention initiatives are much more cost-effective than providing services to and addressing the impacts of chronic homelessness.

I support a safe parking program that provides space for vehicle/RV dwellers along with access to basic amenities and services, including case workers who can help transition the vehicle dwellers to permanent supportive housing. Along with the existing Lots of Love program (hosted by local churches), I support expanding the program to include public land, including the Shoreline Amphitheater parking lots. The safe parking program would provide relief to impacted neighborhoods and some stability for vehicle dwellers.

Funding for Affordable Housing

I support providing local funding to help construct affordable housing. Mountain View has a housing impact fee (also known as a commercial linkage fee) levied on office development, which currently is around $30/square foot. In our Housing Element, the Council directed inclusion of a program to identify additional sources of local funding for affordable housing, including potentially a dedicated revenue source approved by voters.

We are collaborating with the County to reserve $80 million in 2016 Measure A funds for permanent supportive housing, delivering hundreds of new affordable units that will reduce homelessness.

Transportation

Relevant Questionnaires: Mountain View Streets for All & Sustainable Transportation Candidate Questionaire

Caltrain

Caltrain is extremely important to the economic vitality of the region. I strongly support the Caltrain modernization program and capital improvements that will dramatically improve service and the fiscal health of Caltrain. Electrification, grade separation, and platform extensions will improve safety, capacity, frequency, and environmental sustainability of Caltrain.

The City Council will be making major decisions regarding the Downtown Transit Center. Capital improvements must improve safety, circulation, and capacity, but should be financially pragmatic and achievable in time for increased train frequency and ensuing impacts. I support developing the Caltrain parking lot (replacing parking appropriately) to help pay for these improvements.

I support extending the bicycle/pedestrian tunnel under the San Antonio Caltrain station to the former Mayfield Mall site, providing more convenient access to the station for residents of the Monta Loma neighborhood and the employees in the vicinity.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety

Improving bicycle/pedestrian safety and investing in active transportation infrastructure are the quickest and most cost-effective ways to achieve transportation-related GHG emission reduction. Active transportation infrastructure, like protected bike lanes and intersections, increases the likelihood that a given traveler will bike or walk instead of driving. While increasing housing opportunities near jobs and commercial uses and transitioning to electric vehicles are important solutions, these are far more costly and take much longer to meaningfully implement.

I support investing heavily in active transportation infrastructure, like protected bike lanes and intersections; reducing travel lane width and implementing lane reductions (road diets) to slow speeds; and reducing barriers to traffic calming implemented through the City's Neighborhood Traffic Management Program.

Increasing Bus Utilization

Transportation planning currently is generally insufficient. Regionally, we must invest more in bus service, provide discounted transit passes to low-income people, and proactively solicit input from low-income people and communities of color when planning for new or revised transit routes and service. We also must invest heavily in active transportation, which is far less expensive than driving a vehicle.

Bus rapid transit (bus-only lanes), discounted transit passes, safe bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and transit-oriented development all help meet these important goals. Mountain View has required provision of transit passes in new residential developments, and I support providing transit access to residents living in affordable housing, as well as safe bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

El Camino Streetscape Plan

El Camino Real, California Street, and Rengstorff Avenue are the three streets I would prioritize. El Camino Streetscape Plan, which includes protected bicycle facilities, will be implemented next year when Caltrans repaves the corridor. The Council unanimously supported extending a road diet and protected bicycle lane project on California Street from a one-block pilot program to a segment from Showers to Shoreline. I am excited to see this new project implemented and made permanent. Rengstorff is the one significant street that does not yet have meaningful complete streets plans yet, and I support beginning design work soon, including exploring a potential road diet.

Seamless Transit

I believe integration and seamless access across transit systems should be a priority, and I have supported and will continue to support legislation to achieve this goal even if it diminishes local control.

Parking

I support repurposing vehicle travel lanes to increase right-of-way when needed to construct protected bicycle facilities or when implementing a road diet to improve safety. I support removing parking to implement bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure.

I support unbundled parking and implementing a Citywide TDM Ordinance, and I have supported exploring congestion pricing in the context of the North Bayshore Precise Plan. I also support increasing height and density along transit routes. I am supportive of the Google North Bayshore and Google Middlefield Park Master Plans, which will dramatically improve infrastructure and implement both the North Bayshore and East Whisman Precise Plan visions, respectively.

Minimum parking requirements have prevented businesses from opening in Mountain View and have reduced the financial feasibility of housing. Minimum parking requirements also have resulted in excessive private parking spaces that are not accessible to the public. AB 2097 will reduce these barriers and “right-size” the number of parking spaces provided in new development. The City must update the Residential Parking Permit Program to make it easier to establish parking permit zones in neighborhoods with limited parking availability. Instead of requiring more private parking, we must increase the supply of public parking, as directed in the Downtown Parking Strategy.

Infrastructure

The City has already invested a significant amount of Measure P funding into the community shuttle, and the TMA will continue to thrive as redevelopment occurs and more employers and agencies join and participate. Implementation of the North Bayshore, East Whisman, El Camino, and San Antonio Precise Plans will go a long way to improve transit infrastructure and increase ridership in the local transit system.

Substantial investment in viable transportation alternatives will be necessary. The introduction of housing in the East Whisman area will allow some residents to live near where they work. Protected bicycle lanes and intersections, along with traffic calming measures, will encourage biking and walking. The Precise Plan requires developers and employers to join the Mountain View Transportation Management Association, MVgo, which provides transit services to residents and employees. Additionally, employers and rental housing providers are required to provide subsidized transit passes to encourage employees and residents to use VTA Light Rail and Caltrain.

COVID Response

Using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, we have invested millions of dollars in direct financial assistance and small business relief to stabilize families and promote economic recovery and resiliency.

Preventing Homelessness

The pandemic has hit low-income and working families particularly hard, and communities of color disproportionately were impacted. In addition to over $4 million distributed for rent relief, coupled with an eviction moratorium, we allocated $1 million to CSA and $1 million to the Mountain View Solidarity Fund for direct financial assistance, including for undocumented and mixed-status families. We also started a guaranteed basic income pilot program that will provide 166 extremely low-income families $500 per month for 24 months. We are collaborating with the County to reserve $80 million in 2016 Measure A funds for permanent supportive housing, delivering hundreds of new affordable units that will reduce homelessness.

Small / Local Businesses

The direct financial assistance programs funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and from other sources have provided a valuable lifeline for struggling businesses. Additionally, the 2022-2023 Adopted Budget includes $500,000 for economic/climate resilience support to small businesses. This will include development of a toolkit to help small businesses with “risk assessment and mitigation strategies to continue to thrive in the face of increasing variability in the economy and environment.” While important, financial assistance and investment is not sufficient. We will need to reduce regulatory barriers and lengthy permitting review times, since delays increase costs and reduce opportunities to generate revenue. The Matrix Study includes many recommendations, including hiring additional staff, to improve the permitting process.

The 2022-2023 Adopted Budget includes $1,500,000 for the Castro StrEATs improvements. These include capital improvements like sewer upgrades, ADA compliance, pedestrian improvements, street furniture, lighting, and amenities that improve the downtown experience. The Council has also directed the City staff to prepare updates to the Downtown Precise Plan, and this can provide an opportunity to reduce regulatory hurdles. Finally, as part of the scope of the Economic Vitality Study, the Council directed exploration of a commercial space vacancy tax to incentivize property owners to rent out vacant spaces.

Economic Recovery

As we exhaust the ARPA funds and sunset these programs, other longer-term efforts will sustain the recovery. The Council invested $500,000 in workforce development to help low-income communities access the high-paying jobs available in Mountain View. The Economic Vitality Strategy will reduce regulatory barriers preventing small businesses from opening, and it will provide incentives, including potentially a commercial vacancy tax, to encourage property owners to rent out vacant storefronts.

Environmental Sustainability

Parks, Open Space and Urban Recreation

Mountain View generally requires the dedication of land for park space in new residential construction exceeding 50 net new units. The Google North Bayshore and Google Middlefield Park master plans, in the North Bayshore and East Whisman Precise Plan areas respectively, require the dedication of approximately 38 acres combined of land for parks and open space. Other residential projects providing dedicated land for open space include 555 W Middlefield, 1720 Villa Street, and 525 E. Evelyn Ave. In cases where in-lieu fees are collected, the City has been successful in purchasing land for park space – most recently 711 Calderon Ave. We are aggressively pursuing opportunities in the Terra Bella area, which has very little park space. Finally, we are working on a Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan, which will include funding strategies.

Trees

I strongly support the city’s efforts to expand tree canopy through aggressive tree replacement ratios in redevelopment, shade goals in parking lots, and outreach efforts to increase the number of trees on private property. Additionally, when redevelopment occurs, the city must work with developers to preserve as many existing trees as possible.

I support reviewing city tree-planting policy to reduce the number of allergenic trees planted (and increase the number of hypoallergenic trees).

Sea Level Rise

In June 2021, I supported the strategy to fund capital improvements mitigating sea level rise and improving resiliency. These include levee and floodwall improvements, pump station and storm drain improvements, and the Charleston Slough Restoration. The report can be found here. I also voted for June 2016 Measure AA (San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority “Clean and Healthy Bay” Parcel Tax) and support the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project.

Wildlife

Preventing sprawl is a critical strategy to preserve wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors. In Mountain View, the Biodiversity Strategy will help identify opportunities to expand habitat and improve habitat quality, as well as preserve tree canopy. I supported this project during goal setting and remain supportive.

I support implementing Citywide lighting standards and bird-safe design requirements. We will have an opportunity to do this in the context of the Google Master Plans in the near-term, but longer-term we will have to implement these citywide to address code compliant development as well.

I am currently working on opportunities to address lighting standards in the Google North Bayshore Master Plan (and North Bayshore Precise Plan), and I will support continuing implementation of lighting standards citywide. I also support bird safety design requirements citywide.

Electrification Reach Codes

Mountain View approved the Reach Code in 2019, and I was proud to vote for it. This requires all-electric new construction. While the City has not yet discussed electrification of existing Internet Equity development, I would support providing funding to help homeowners transition to electric appliances as well as policies that encourage the phase-out of natural gas infrastructure at end-of-life. To maximize greenhouse gas emission reduction, this will have to be done expeditiously, and I would hope to work with our community to achieve this by 2035 or 2040.

Youth and Families

Mental Health

Mountain View has long supported and invested in mental health care and services, primarily in partnership with the school districts through CHAC, the Community Health Awareness Council. I support continuing and expanding this investment and partnership. Additionally, Councilmember Kamei, as Chair of the Council Youth Services Committee, has prioritized and championed mental health support for young people in our community, and I am proud to support her leadership and efforts.

Diversity and Inclusion

Addressing Systemic Racism

The most important way to dismantle systemic racism is to empower historically underrepresented and disenfranchised communities who have been denied access to decision-making positions. I am proud to have supported many progressive women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ candidates for elected office at all levels of government and for appointed positions in Mountain View. Additionally, I support progressive land use and housing policies, including tenant protections like rent control and just cause eviction, to ensure that lower-income and vulnerable people, who disproportionately come from communities of color, are able to remain in vibrant, safe, and high-resource cities like Mountain View. Unfortunately, the high cost of housing has pushed many of our lower-income families not only out of Mountain View, but even out of the region entirely. Affordable housing, homelessness prevention, workforce development, and similar policies and programs can help these communities remain in affluent and resource-rich cities like Mountain View, ensuring that these communities can benefit from high-quality education and access to high-paying jobs.

In 2020, then-Mayor Abe-Koga created the Council Ad-Hoc Subcommittee on Race, Equity and Inclusion, on which I was honored to serve alongside Mayor Abe-Koga and our Chair Ellen Kamei. We worked on several challenging issues, ultimately recommending that the City Council establish a Public Safety Advisory Board (PSAB) to improve community relations with the Police Department in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. The PSAB solicited community input to address concerns about policing, and the Council approved several of the recommendations earlier this year. The REI Subcommittee also has worked on bystander intervention training, recommended adoption of a resolution denouncing xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment, and received updates on the County of Santa Clara Hate Crimes Task Force.

LGBTQ+

I was proud to continue the tradition, started by former Mayor Chris Clark, of raising the Pride Flag in June. Former Supervisor Ken Yeager joined the ceremony, a recording of which is available here.

Additionally, I worked with Ken, in his capacity as Executive Director of the BAYMEC Community Foundation, to bring the "Coming Out" Exhibit he has curated to Mountain View City Hall. Both of these actions were particularly important given the anti-LGBTQ hate crime attacks in Mountain View this year.

Mountain View has approximately 700 unhoused individuals, many of whom live in vehicles. The LGBTQ+ community is overrepresented in the unhoused population, often because these individuals do not feel safe and are unwelcome by their own families. They are especially vulnerable because they have been marginalized and ostracized. I am proud to have supported our robust safe parking program, which provides approximately 100 spaces, the LifeMoves Project Homekey interim housing community on Leghorn, and the permanent supportive housing projects, including the Crestview Hotel acquisition, that provide safe places for the unhoused community. Further, I support lived experience advisors to ensure that LGBTQ+ individuals specifically feel safe and welcomed in these shelters and supportive housing. Mountain View is particularly fortunate to have a social services agency that is extremely welcoming to LGBTQ+ individuals -- the executive director of CSA, Tom Myers, is an openly gay man, and he has done a phenomenal job hiring many LGBTQ+ staff and ensuring the services to welcoming to all. This issue was the subject of an op-ed I co-wrote with Tom Myers, which was published in the Los Altos Town Crier.

Increasing Engagement with Underrepresented Communities

In 2019, I was proud to join Councilmember Kamei and then-Vice Mayor Abe-Koga in significantly expanding the Multicultural Engagement Program (MEP), which provides translated distribution of city services information, interpretation services, native language civic leadership academics and community engagement. More recently, I supported Councilmember Kamei’s recommendation to create a Chinese Language Civic Leadership Academy, which graduated its first class earlier this year. I am a longtime supporter of the Spanish Language Civic Leadership Academy, which was started in 2017.

Public Safety

A Robust Fire Department

The City of Mountain View is well served by its first-rate, professional Fire Department. Fire Chief Juan Diaz oversees approximately 86 personnel and 5 fire stations. We are fortunate to be fully staffed at this time. Fire represents approximately 18% of the total General Operating Fund expenditures for FY22-23, around $30.1 million. The Department’s primary responsibilities include fire suppression, paramedic and rescue services, inspection and prevention (fire and hazardous materials), emergency preparedness, and community education. Mutual-aid fire support is provided to other cities and to the State of California. An annual report is published each fiscal year detailing the Department’s response times and activity along with budgetary information.

Excellent fire protection and emergency response services are critical to preserving the quality of life of our residents. I am proud to know our city and its residents have invested the resources necessary to maintain an exceptional fire department. I strongly support continuing to invest in public safety to ensure that the city can remain competitive, recruit and retain top-notch personnel, maintain superior emergency response time, and provide for public education.