Mountain View City Council Candidate Forum 2026

Video

Transcript

Segment 1

[00:06:41] Moderator Peter Katz: Just to show you we mean business, it is 5:30. All right, can you hear me in the back okay? Of course, you could probably do that without a microphone. Okay. Good evening everyone, and welcome to the 2026 Mountain View City Council Candidate Forum, hosted by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce. I'm Peter Katz, President and CEO of the Chamber, and honored to be your host and your moderator. As you know, the Chamber is the voice of business, helping our local storefronts, large corporations, and community at large grow and thrive together. We advocate on behalf of businesses, host public forums, like tonight, provide tools and services to help our local economy, and put on major events such as the 54th Annual Art and Wine Festival happening in just two weeks. I figured that'd get an applause. And the 11th annual Oktoberfest, October 10th and 11th. Yes, this is a shameless plug, but we need some more volunteers. So if you haven't volunteered yet, there's a flyer in the back that gives you the address to do that. All right. As you may know, three seats are open in November for City Council. Tonight, the Chamber is pleased to welcome all eight candidates to the forum. From left to right, we have Samuel Ali, a Google security specialist. We have Alexander Amoroso, U.S. Army Officer. Robert Cox, retired Intel project lead. Paul Donahue, engineer. James Kuszmaul, software engineer. Silja Paymer, Los Altos high school teacher. Erik Poicon, community organizer. And Idarose Sylvester, entrepreneur and local activist. Let's have an applause. And I personally would like to thank you all for your active participation tonight, and especially for your ongoing passion and service to our community. If there's one thing we can say about Mountain View is we have an engaged population. So, welcome. Also, want to be sure to thank KMVT for live streaming the event tonight. It's back-to-school night for many. I was reminded about 100 times. So we're grateful that the video recording will also be available for later viewing on our website as well as KMVT's YouTube channel. So tell your friends who are angry at me to please do that. All right. The next 90 minutes are going to fly by, I guarantee, and we want to be equitable as well as efficient with our time. So the format is as follows. Each of our candidates will have three minutes for an opening statement. It'll be followed by a moderated Q&A with one-minute answers. Although I reserve the right to change it to a minute and a half if the answers are really juicy. And then we'll do a lightning round with quick one-word answers like yes, no, abstain, something like that. And then each of the candidates will have one minute for a closing statement. I want to thank our members, our chamber members, our businesses, the general public, for submitting a host of questions in advance. I want to recognize the Chamber's Forum Committee for helping to vet and craft questions for a decidedly economic and business focus. That's important. We are the Chamber of Commerce, so there's of course a whole host of questions that everyone has for our City Council members. We are really going to focus on ones that are front and center for our businesses. Areas to be covered do include small business support, housing, development, and economic vitality. Before we get started, I will just remind our candidates that the microphones in front of them are muted until you press the button in front of you. Then they will go green and that means you're live. And then you press it again and they go off. I cannot mute you from here, but I will yell loudly. So, a few ground rules to remember. Please honor the time limits. It is really, really hard to get through with eight candidates, all the good stuff that we have here, and I really do want everyone to be able to tell their story and say their piece. Please stay on topic, for the same reason. And finally, this is a forum. This is not a debate. So if you're looking for real big fireworks or fisticuffs or something that'll be on YouTube later... probably not going to happen. No fighting, no biting, okay? All right. With that, let's start with opening remarks. And I'm going to do this for the opening remarks alphabetically. So we'll start with Sam.

[00:11:43] Samuel Ali: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for coming here. And you all are the backbone of this beautiful city. This is a city that is so special to me as a born and raised resident here. I was born in El Camino Hospital, went to Slater Elementary School, went to Graham Middle School and Mountain View High. This city means so much to me. I'm Mountain View made and I am so thankful that you're here today. This city meant so much to me growing up. My mom was a single parent mom on section 8 here in Mountain View, and this city helped us so much, and it gave us a community. I had the privilege to grow up here. This city meant so much to me, the food banks, and so when I see kids walking to the laundromats, I see myself in them. And I just want to say thank you so much for showing up here and for believing in a local boy like me. So thank you.

[00:12:44] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right, let's move on to Alex.

[00:12:49] Alexander Amoroso: Thank you, Peter. And thank you to everyone here, because this right here is my motivation to serve this community, as it has been my motivation to serve this country. So, I was first brought to Mountain View six years ago during the pandemic, but my roots to this city go as far back as to my great-grandfather, who was here when the city was young. But my love for this community and love for this country is as old as I am, which is only like 35 years. But I want to redirect the same dedication in my 10-year Army career, especially since I spent that time overseas preserving and defending this nation, to this City Council, in the same disciplined leadership that I have applied, and also bring about the same kind of leadership and change that my family has instilled upon me, because I come from a family of service members as well as hard-working immigrants. From my great-granddad who served in World War I, and was with the Immigrant Chemical Workers Union, my other great-grandfather, who was here, Vincent Amoroso, in the Federation of Musicians. My father, Air Force and mechanic union. And myself, US Army Reserve Officer and American Federation for Government Employees. So that is the kind of dedication to work, service, and passionate love for the community that I will bring, that expands history, expands patriotism, expands my love for everyone in this room. So thank you for being here, and I hope to answer all your questions in full. Thank you guys.

[00:14:38] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Robert.

[00:14:41] Robert Cox: Hi, I'm Robert Cox. I'm a 31-year Mountain View resident, serving our community for the last 17 years. I came to Mountain View in 1995 with a PhD in Engineering and a minor in Economics, to pursue a career in high-tech. I chose Mountain View because it was the world's center for high-tech business and innovation. I fell in love with my new company's eco-friendly campus in North Bayshore. My experience on this campus is what later motivated me to be a leader in our Sierra Club chapter advocating for our environment. In 2009, I bought a small lot, single-family home in Old Mountain View. I joined the neighborhood association board in 2010 with a desire to promote strong neighborhoods and communicate the impact of new developments to my neighbors. Several council members noted my enthusiasm and recommended me for a position on the City's Environmental Planning Commission in 2013. Businesses were growing. Google, Intuit, and LinkedIn planned new headquarters, and I weighed in on their design. Building new housing complemented the business growth. I recommended approval of over 4,200 new units, over 600 of which were affordable, a new city record. While doing this, I fought to retain beloved, existing small businesses like the Rose Market, Lee Alterations, and Tanya Hair Design at Castro and El Camino. Our future as a city depends on the retention and creation of our businesses and production of housing affordable to their employees. In 2013, several other council members urged me to apply for the Rental Housing Committee, which oversees the city's rent control ordinances. My reputation as a fair-minded person, knowledgeable in economics, who respects others, earned me the votes of all the council members at my appointment hearing. I'm currently chair of the committee, and I'm especially proud of the work we did to draft regulations protecting tenants against harassment and retaliation. Beyond this, I've watched almost every council meeting for the last 20 years, and have spoken at very many of them, as some of you know. So, I have the experience and knowledge to be an effective council member from day one. Being recently retired, I also have the time and energy to be a full-time council member. I'm here for you. I'm a practical person, constantly looking for ways to improve our city. So if you shake your head when you see something happening here that makes no sense at all, reach out to me. I'm the one who wants to make things right. I believe in a bright future for Mountain View's businesses and residents. Our city is facing challenges. The council must act urgently to develop a plan to retain control over the future of our downtown historic retail district, just as Palo Alto and Sunnyvale have done. We must become an even greater center for the development of new artificial intelligence. We must equip our workers to use it productively in all aspects of our businesses. And we must plan for the future, remembering that we are a community for all, drawn from almost all the nations of the earth, to work together and build a tomorrow. Thank you.

[00:17:55] Moderator Peter Katz: All right. I said I had 15 seconds. Well, we'll come back to that though in a minute. Okay. Robert, thank you. Paul.

[00:18:08] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Good evening, and thanks to the Chamber for hosting, and thank you all for coming. You clearly care about Mountain View, and I do too. I'm Paul Donahue. I'm a hardware engineer and a 32-year resident of Mountain View, both as a renter and as a homeowner. My wife works for the Mountain View Whisman School District and our two kids were born and raised here in Mountain View. This forum is really a job interview, and you are the interview panel. And what's the first question you always ask in an interview? Do you have experience? Well, I have decades of experience, in government policy making experience. In the city, I've been on the Parks and Recreation Commission, an Urban Forestry Board, I've been on the Downtown Committee, I've been on the Library Board, I've been on the Environmental Planning Commission. I've also served over a decade on a county land use commission. Nobody can match that depth and breadth of experience. We have three incumbents who are termed out, and we're going to get three new people on the council. So I'm running because Mountain View deserves experienced leadership. What are my priorities? Housing, the environment, and the economy. We need to follow through on our housing element, bringing rental and ownership housing to all income levels so that we can maintain the diversity that is Mountain View's greatest strength. We need to do this while maintaining the amenities that our residents need, things like neighborhood serving retail and green space. Speaking of green space, environmental sustainability is more important now than ever in our changing climate. We need to provide parks for our residents. We need to increase tree canopy that makes our city cooler and more livable. And we need to provide incentives for people to make the right green choices. Growing up, my parents owned a clothing store on the main street of our small Illinois town. So I understand how important it is for a city to foster the downtown and the entire business community. We need to continue to execute our economic vitality strategy to keep our local economy strong. I'm looking forward to further exploring my experience and my priorities throughout this evening. Thank you.

[00:20:46] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. James.

[00:20:48] James Kuszmaul: Good evening. My name is James Kuszmaul. I grew up in Mountain View, and have been proud to be able to call the best city in the world home for my entire life. Mountain View has great schools, parks, and facilities. I swim at the pool right over there a couple times a week, and people from other cities tell me that it's one of the best facilities in the entire area. We have great jobs, and by the standards of the Bay Area, this is a great place to walk, bike, and is a pro-housing city. And most importantly, the people in Mountain View are some of the best people in the world. But for all the good that we do, we need more urgency in addressing the very real problems that we still face. I have served on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee for the city for the past five and a half years, and I've seen how slowly projects tend to work through the system and how we can sometimes needlessly water down critical safety improvements because of outdated design standards and practices. We just sent the City Council a active transportation plan with a list of prioritized projects and policies to be implemented over the next few years that will improve street safety for everyone, whether that's a kid biking to school, a parent pushing their stroller down a sidewalk that might currently be cracked and broken. And we need a council that will follow through on that, that will take those priorities that we define and say, we care about this, we care about the safety of our city. On housing, we have also made progress over the past decade. I am personally thrilled to see some of the stories that are coming out of the Crestview Motel conversion that provide supportive services for people currently struggling with homelessness. But we do need more to truly solve this housing crisis locally and regionally. In 2023, I pushed to make the city's housing element for the eight years between now and 2030 include as many good programs as possible to remove needless requirements, allow more affordable housing to get built with specific commitments, and have predictable permitting processes for the city so that housing wouldn't get mired in unpredictable city permitting. Some of those promises have been kept, but there's some things still left to do between now and over the next four years, and I will work to actually implement those policies. And housing means we need businesses for the new people who are joining the city. We need to make sure that we are zoning for the businesses that we need, that we follow through on the economic vitality strategy that the City Council passed and has passed some of the initial segments of. And we need to follow through so that it is easy to start a business here, it's easy to operate a business here, and it's easy to get people from their homes to said businesses. And finally, we need to protect our most vulnerable residents. We live in uncertain times and with federal immigration enforcement, with the federal government threatening local cities, we need to have people who will stand up for our principles and be willing to fight for the most vulnerable residents among us. Thank you.

[00:23:48] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you very much. Silja.

[00:23:51] Silja Paymer: Thank you. Good evening, members of the Chamber, business leaders, neighbors, friends. It's really fun to come in today and see so many friendly faces, both new and old. My name is Silja Paymer. I'm a 20-year resident of Mountain View. I'm a high school physics teacher, a mechanical engineer, and a mom of two. I'm running for City Council because I love living here, and I do believe it is the best city in the world. And I think we can take a next step to make it the best city in the world for kids to grow up in. Leadership is not about being in charge. It's about taking care of those in your charge. As business leaders, you understand that concept better than anyone. You care for your employees and for your customers, and as you build systems, manage budgets, and invest in the future, you still take care of everybody because you care about the long-term viability of your organizations. When we make Mountain View safe, sustainable, and vibrant for our children, we aren't just making good social policy. We're building the future of Mountain View. A family-friendly city is a business-friendly city. When parents know their children can walk or bike safely to school, they also know that they can trust them to walk downtown and buy absurd gallons of boba tea. Right? They become our consumers as well. And when our workers can afford to live near where they work, and when our public infrastructure is green, resilient, and modern, we attract and retain the top-tier talent that innovate and enhance our companies. On Council, I won't ask you to choose between economic vitality and community well-being. I bring a pragmatic engineering background to solve our complex urban problems, and a teacher's long-term vision to manage our resources smartly and create systems that work efficiently and effectively for many different people with many different needs. On Council, sorry, we can expand our housing stock and build multi-modal transit networks that reduce traffic congestion for your commuters. We can invest in safe streets and native green spaces that lower total living costs for families while creating vibrant, walkable commercial districts where local businesses thrive. The health of our people and the health of our economies are intrinsically linked. When our kids thrive, our families stay, our workforce stabilizes, and our local businesses flourish. I want to co-govern alongside our business community to make sure Mountain View remains innovative, competitive, and above all, a safe place for our next generation. Thank you, and I look forward to talking more with you about your stories and your needs as well.

[00:26:36] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you very much. Erik.

[00:26:39] Erik Poicon: Thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Erik Poicon and I'm running for City Council, simply put, because I believe Mountain View should be a city where residents can live their entire life. That means growing up here, getting their first job, raising a family, and being able to grow old here. That vision is personal to me. I was raised by a single mother of four who taught me and my siblings 'Todo en la vida se puede', everything in life is possible. I have experienced homelessness and relied on rental and food assistance to survive. I have lived side-by-side through many of the experiences members of our community go through on a daily basis, having to choose between food and rent. I have been blessed with a job as a community outreach worker, allowing me to help residents access the same benefits that helped me persevere. However, these experiences showed me that there is much work to do in order to ensure everyone feels welcome here in Mountain View. My four council priorities include, first, affordability at every stage of life. We need child care working families can actually afford, strong youth programs, and support that helps seniors remain independent and stay within the community they've helped build. Second, housing that works for people that live and work here. I'm a pro-housing, a pro-tenant candidate who wants to provide a full range of options such as missing middle housing and transit-oriented development, paired with strong renter protections, preservation for our mobile home communities, and a humane transition plans with safe realistic alternatives when a city displaces, a project displaces our RV residents. Roughly six out of every ten residents are renters here and I believe our voices deserve to be on that Council. Third, safe and healthy connected neighborhoods. Making sure Vision Zero is fully funded, expand safe walking routes in every neighborhood, and preserve practical parking for seniors, people with disabilities, our workers, and small businesses. I believe that safer streets should create more choices, not new barriers. And last, community involvement that is more than a procedural check box. I want to advocate for pop-up City Hall hours, early neighborhood briefings, stronger language access, and clearer processes for our residents, small businesses, and nonprofits. I strongly believe that meaningful outreach can build trust, improve decisions, and help projects move forward with a stronger community backing. Through this forum, I hope to give you a clear sense of what I stand for, the approach I'll take when Mountain View faces issues, and why I'm asking for your vote. Thank you.

[00:29:22] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you, Erik. And last but certainly not least, Idarose.

[00:29:28] Idarose Sylvester: Good evening. I'm Idarose Sylvester and I'm running for City Council because I care deeply about this community. And I know how to bring people together, turn ideas into action, and to get things done. I'm a long-time Mountain View resident, an entrepreneur and business owner, a non-profit leader, a city mediator, and a neighborhood leader. With 10 years of service on three different city advisory bodies, including the Parks and Rec Commission, Human Relations Commission, and the Environmental Sustainability Task Force. Entrepreneurship and small business shaped my life from an early age. I was raised by a single mother who ran several small businesses. And I saw firsthand what a business can do for a family. It brings independence, opportunity, and pride. I then went on to build my own successful business, helping hundreds of entrepreneurs and small business owners turn ideas into sustainable ventures. When the pandemic threatened our restaurants and our families, I found an appetite for good. I raised money to buy meal vouchers from Mountain View restaurants, and gave them to local families who needed it. I supported and saved dozens of restaurants, keeping money in our local economy, and helping feed hundreds of families. The work I'm most proud of is not just identifying problems, but solving them. I've brought this approach to all my big challenges, uniting my community to get the work done. I also care deeply about Mountain View's innovation economy too. World-changing ideas have been here for decades. And I want us to remain a place where new companies start, established companies grow, and the next great ideas that change the world take root. I'm currently planning an event focused on Mountain View's innovation economy, and what it will take to keep that business ecosystem thriving. Stay tuned.

[00:31:17] Moderator Peter Katz: That's not me.

[00:31:18] Idarose Sylvester: It sounded like you. But of course, economic vitality is more than just about business. People need to afford to live here. We need more housing across a range of incomes, including truly affordable housing and missing middle income housing, while protecting people from displacement. Housing is workforce policy and economic policy as well as community policy. We also need thoughtful development that adds housing, jobs, opportunity, and vitality, while planning well for transportation, infrastructure, schools, and complete neighborhoods, mitigating the impact of business growth. And we need a city that is environmentally sustainable. Clean energy, safer streets, more trees, resilient infrastructure, and public spaces are what make Mountain View a place where people and businesses want to be. I bring to this race more than a breadth of experience. It's a record of results, bringing organizations, people together, moving policy, creating programs, and bringing unlikely partners together for our mutual success. I stand up for people when it matters. I'm optimistic about Mountain View's future, and I'm ready to bring that approach to City Council. Thank you very much.

[00:32:32] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you all for your very thoughtful opening statements. I think you all in the audience are getting a feel for where these candidates come from and kind of where their thought processes are. So now we're going to focus on some of the key issues that face a lot of our businesses. And I don't want the end of the table to feel slighted. So I'm going to start at the end of the table. Idarose, the city's vision statement is a welcoming, vibrant city that plans intentionally and leads regionally to create livable, sustainable neighborhoods, access to nature and open spaces, and a strong, innovation-driven local economy. So what should the city do to foster a strong, innovation-driven economy?

[00:33:24] Idarose Sylvester: Thank you for that question. Um, well, as I mentioned, small business and innovation is something that's uniquely interesting to me because I ran a business that helped small innovative businesses succeed. Um, for Mountain View, I think one of the number one things we need to do is tell small startups and innovation that you are welcome here. We want you to build your company here, start out here, build jobs, manufacturing, create the local economy that we need. You are welcome here and we will help you. Um, we need to be better about getting out of businesses' way, making things easier and faster for them to succeed. We need to become more of a concierge to our small businesses and less of a bouncer that makes it difficult for them. Um, so I, I think I've been talking to a lot of innovative companies. They want to be here, in part because we have Google that sort of spawns and encourages other businesses, and many of them say they don't quite feel Mountain View gets their importance to our future economy. Uh, they also care about the other kinds of things they need. They want that complete and vibrant community. They want housing for the people that work there at all levels of income. They want a city where their employees would like to go shop and eat and have a good time. Uh, they want beautiful parks, beautiful space, and the environment cared for. Uh, but again, first and foremost, they want to feel like Mountain View cares and encourages them. Uh, one final thought, um, I'm looking at a model from the city of Irvine, which is bringing together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, money from the city, and other sources to create incubators and workforce development in the city of Irvine to support those local companies, and I think that's something we could look for here.

[00:35:09] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Um, you actually hit the timing on the button, but I'm, um, I'm giving everybody a minute and 15 seconds because this is the first go around and I wanted to go a little easier on you. So, with a minute and 15, Erik.

[00:35:28] Erik Poicon: Can you repeat the question one more time, sorry.

[00:35:30] Moderator Peter Katz: Absolutely. The city's vision statement is a welcoming, vibrant city that plans intentionally and leads regionally to create a livable, sustainable neighborhoods, access to nature and open spaces, and a strong, innovation-driven local economy. So what should the city do to foster a strong, innovation-driven economy?

[00:35:53] Erik Poicon: So my belief is like essentially is how are we defining like not only innovation but how are we being pro-business about it. And for me, being pro-business means making sure that the city is somewhere where you can start, stay, and even grow. So on Council, I think my priorities would be these three things. First, being able to set clear expectations and clear timelines when it comes to business permits. One of the biggest complaints is that there's such a huge delay within them and they're not able to even start their business a year after. I think Bloom and Vine is a clear example of that. Had they not had the wealth a year later after they finally opened, they probably wouldn't be around. Uh, second, strengthen pre-lease assistance through the business ambassador team. So business understands the zoning, building, and permitting requirements before signing an expensive lease. I think that we're not pretty, uh, apparent about that and being thorough would probably make them much more aware of what they're signing onto prior to signing onto an expensive endeavor. Lastly, track retention, closures, long-term vacancies, and reoccurring barriers, not just focus on which businesses we've opened. I'm a firm believer that, um, it's always great to open a new business, it's always great to be there with the chamber cutting the ribbon, but it is something else when you're seeing them flourish year after year and being able to tell a family member or a child, like, this is where I used to hang out or this is where I met your grandma back when. Um, our city has already streamlined zoning uh, for small businesses, and we should continue to expand those efforts.

[00:37:29] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Okay, let's keep going down the road. Silja.

[00:37:38] Silja Paymer: There we go. Um, so I think those of us who've been around here a long time know that a lot of innovation started in garages. Um, so that was, if you think about it, mixed use zoning. Um, so I think that, um, one of the things we can do for our smaller companies that are starting up, um, is offer more of this mixed use zoning through the city in a very conscientious and consider- like considerate way. Um, but having housing near the businesses and having businesses near the housing means they both benefit. Who wouldn't want a local brunch spot, right? Um, so I think that that's one thing we can do for the smaller businesses. Um, I've also heard the stories of the long permitting processes and as a teacher it really frustrates me to hear how it seems like we get bogged down in treating each need as individuals. Um, as a teacher, I see all of my students as individual, but you start to see that their needs are not unique. You can meet the needs of many students by recognizing the common needs, and I think that's what we need to identify in the city. How do we figure out the common needs and make streamline processes for those, and then the edge cases we treat as individual processes. Um, I also agree that our big businesses, the way we keep our big businesses here, they now have the choice. San Jose is here, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, they can choose for where it's best for their companies to grow, but I have a feeling if we're the best place for their leadership to live, that's where they're going to want to be.

[00:39:09] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you very much. James.

[00:39:13] James Kuszmaul: Thank you. For me, there's a couple different prongs to this. One is, one is more structural. So the, one of the most valuable things a business can have is people, be that customers or people to work there. Especially when we look at why tech companies are in the area, that's because tech workers are here. And for that, we need more housing. And because right now if we're talking about office space, for instance, in Mountain View, we're competing with all these other cities on office space. And getting more housing in the area that people can easily go from there to wherever their office is, hopefully in Mountain View, to wherever their retail is in Mountain View, via bike, via walking, via public transit, via car. The more our economy will thrive. And then we also have the more tactical side of things, of making sure that their permitting processes are predictable so you don't not have your business fail because one permit took a year to get. And making it so that the zoning is such that you don't, if you have a new business type because you're being innovative, the zoning actually allows you to start that rather than it not falling into one of 10 different categories that currently exist. So as, housing, permitting, predictability. Thank you.

[00:40:23] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Paul.

[00:40:28] Commissioner Paul Donahue: 46% of jobs in Mountain View are in the information sector. And Google, as people probably know, is our largest employer. But it's not just tech companies like Google and Microsoft and Intuit. There, every trillion dollar company started out as a startup company. And there are other small businesses that have innovative ideas. It's not just tech companies. So we need to foster our entire business community. Um, I, I've worked at startup companies and at large companies, so I know. The things that the city needs to do is it needs to streamline the permitting process, as, as we've already heard. That's something that I've done on the Environmental Planning Commission, which oversees zoning and this type of thing in the city, to eliminate conditional use permits, and to, which no other city had, to, for businesses under 4,000 square feet, to cut to the chase, to not have to go through a planning permit process and then a building permit process, to just go straight to the building permit process, because that was costing businesses up to 6 months of extra time and $10,000 of additional costs, which is a real killer for a small business. Thank you.

[00:42:02] Moderator Peter Katz: Okay. Let's go to Robert.

[00:42:13] Robert Cox: First of all, I think, you know, to have an innovative city, we need to make it easy to start a business in Mountain View, and this year the City Council has taken important steps to streamline permitting, but we can do more. Um, people who want to start a new business in Mountain View, they could get guidance from city staff before they sign a lease, as Erik mentioned. We should have a simple permit application, a single point of contact in city staff to guide them through the permit process. And we should set a goal of getting new business permits approved in lightning time, like 30 days or less. You know, AB 131 for housing says we need to get stuff done in a certain amount of time, so we can do this for permitting too, too. Another thing is, for large companies, I think the city needs to check in on our 10 largest employers periodically, to find out what they love about Mountain View, what are their obstacles, and what can we do to deepen the relationship, because a lot of our employment comes from them. Um, I think that we need to have a strong Chamber of Commerce that works together with the city, to brainstorm the city's business future and cooperate on events that highlight our city's strengths and draw people together to patronize our businesses. So like Art and Wine Festival and tech showcase. And it means to provide the infrastructure to make businesses successful, including public safety, transportation, its management, and utilities. And have a tax structure that is competitive with other local cities doing the same business.

[00:43:48] Moderator Peter Katz: Well, as much as I love it when you say Chamber of Commerce, and we'd love to listen to you all day, let's move down. Alex, please.

[00:43:58] Alexander Amoroso: So, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "Labor precedes capital." So the main focus of my campaign is jobs, jobs, jobs. And I've had the privilege given my position in the Army to work with individuals and programs called P3. So P3 stands for Private Public Partnership, where we have assisted folks who are reservists and families to find work nationwide. So what we would do is mobilize the city through our own internal, my co-version of that called P3 for Mountain View, where we help not just residents find gainful employment with proceeding wages, but also folks who are on the street, especially if they are veterans. So once we get the labor force grounded and also housed in workforce housing that we corroborate with industry on, in these areas, we will meet the essential housing element as well as the essential employment element for folks, whether childcare, healthcare...

Segment 2

[00:45:00] Alexander Amoroso: uh education and especially mechanics and it because again with tech we can mobilize for a greener economy when we hire green jobs and green employees and that's throughout the entire area and I've done this on the military level.

[00:45:17] Alexander Amoroso: And now with the governor giving us a 48.5 million boost through the Jobs First investment initiative we can pull into that money to better invest in our local economy and our jobs and get folks uh buy-in thank you very much.

[00:45:33] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. And Sam.

[00:45:37] Samuel Ali: Well everyone, um, my simple, my thing would be simple. City hall should be your partner, it shouldn't be an obstacle. Uh, when you start a small business here, you're taking a risk, and Mountain View should meet that risk with you. I think we could do something more for our small businesses, our businesses that we have here with social media. Hey, you come to Mountain View, you bring your dreams, you bring your your goals, Mountain View is going to support you.

[00:45:57] Samuel Ali: We're gonna, we could do something like a, a year-long social media campaign and get your business thriving, and we can do that here. And we can, we can support people, because when Mountain View small businesses and businesses here in downtown Mountain View, or wherever, and they're getting the, the, the social media attraction, that means people are coming here, that means people are spending money here.

[00:46:19] Samuel Ali: That means the businesses are growing. That means more jobs for everyone here in this community. Take it from me, like, and when this Mountain View is growing, and, and, and thriving, it benefits us all. And so that's what I would, that's one of the things that, simple, simple way we can do something here for Mountain View to make our small businesses and big tech companies grow, and develop, and bring attraction here to Mountain View.

[00:46:49] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Well, as you can see, there's a lot of passion at this table, and a lot that needs to be said. So I'm going to retrench one of the questions just a little bit here, and, um, basically, one of the things that we hear at the Chamber is that Mountain View is a hard place to do business. And so, based on your knowledge of how the city operates, and some of you have given some very poignant, uh, poignant points, um, what do you believe is the most significant obstacle to get things done, and how will you work to fix it?

[00:47:19] Moderator Peter Katz: And I'd like to point out that often times one hears in a campaign trail that, um, your campaign statement is poetry, but the prose is what you do to get things done. And so I'd like you to focus a little bit more on the prose side in a minute and a half. Um, again, it's less about identifying what the significant obstacle is, because I think a number of you have mentioned that, it's really what you specifically will do to change that as a council member. And to mix things up a little bit, we're going to start in the middle of the table. So James, I'm actually going to start with you.

[00:47:58] James Kuszmaul: I was guessing you might do that. Um, there's different categories of business in this city. Um, I spend a lot of time dealing with housing because that's an important issue to me as someone who rents and grew up in the city and knows a lot of people who can't afford to live here anymore. And one of the things I specifically fought for, and which would be something I'd continue that type of thing on council, was in the housing element process, I asked for specific reductions of parking mandates in certain areas of the city and advocated the city to include that, and the city council passed that.

[00:48:33] James Kuszmaul: Similar to how the city council, with the Economic Vitality Strategy, passed the removal of certain parking requirements when you're converting a business use, use so that you don't change your business type and suddenly need to double the amount of pavement you have in your driveway and that makes it economically unfeasible. And so I would continue to fight for any spot where there's a significant barrier. Take those, and if we can just remove them, remove them. If they're more complicated to remove, if they require changing staff processes, talk to staff, talk to businesses, and figure out how we can go ahead and just do that, because sometimes if we write it down and say we're going to do it, we can just do it. We don't need to spend a decade arguing over it first.

[00:49:15] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Alright, and now I'm going to jump to Paul.

[00:49:22] Commissioner Paul Donahue: We're going this way, okay.

[00:49:26] Moderator Peter Katz: Maybe, maybe not.

[00:49:27] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay, um, so, as as we discussed, the permitting process, I think, is, has been quite, uh, burdensome, we'll say, in in the city. And as I mentioned, uh, I recommended that the council eliminate some uh some of these burdensome permits. Uh, one of the other ones that I I didn't mention before that I recommended that the council eliminate, is, or reduce, the parking requirements.

[00:49:56] Commissioner Paul Donahue: The city had for certain types of businesses, uh, parking requirements that were out of line with what neighboring cities required. And we're competing with neighboring cities for these businesses. A small business can choose to set up in Sunnyvale. And if Mountain View is not, is too burdensome, they're going to go to Sunnyvale. They're going to go to Los Altos. They're going to go to Palo Alto. So we need to compete for these businesses.

[00:50:26] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Um, I've been recently talking to a lot of people in the business community trying to get more, uh, ideas about what the problems are. I've been talking to Los Altos council members to find out what is working over there. What, why is Mountain View so difficult? What are you guys doing in Los Altos to, to solve these problems and to make it more of a pro-business, uh, environment? So I would continue to do those types of collaborations. Thank you.

[00:50:54] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. And no I'm not going straight down the line, I'm going to jump now to Silja.

[00:51:01] Silja Paymer: Yeah, on our toes.

[00:51:04] Silja Paymer: Um, so I, I don't disagree. I've already kind of talked about how I feel the permitting process needs to be changed as well. Um, one thing I've heard from quite a lot of people, um, in Mountain View is they do notice the vacancies. And I've talked to some people on Castro who've been trying to start business or actually reopen a business, and one of the big hurdles is, um, trying to get the landlords involved. Sometimes they're very disengaged.

[00:51:33] Silja Paymer: And I think I've seen the city's done a really great job along Castro filling a lot of the holes, but just off Castro you start to see them again. And so I think, um, the Economic Vitality Plan the city's put in place has been a really useful carrot for those who are looking for a carrot and want to, um, really engage with the opportunities. Um, but I do think we maybe need to look into some sort of vacancy fee, um, to, you know, sometimes you need the stick as well as the carrot, um, to make sure that our landlords want to engage and are looking to be competitive in terms of signing leases.

[00:52:05] Silja Paymer: Um, the one I talked to, they said they weren't interested in signing a lease because they had one, even though that person was no longer paying. So, it seems like obviously we need to encourage them to transition to the new leases and bring in new people, um, so that we all get to benefit from these businesses.

[00:52:24] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you very much. And now we're going to jump to Robert.

[00:52:30] Robert Cox: All right. Um, you know what that permitting process, you know, I tried to dig into it a little bit and I found out that some people have told me that it's taking them a year or a year and a half to get the permitting going. And they turn the papers into the city, and then it's like another month before they hear back to them. And that's why I say a single point of contact could help and making sure that when you turn your stuff in, you get an immediate response. So that's the first thing.

[00:52:58] Robert Cox: The second thing is, let's think about what happens with big projects around here. One of the biggest disappointments, even though I thought they were, it was wonderful being on the Planning Commission and dealing with, you know, all the studies and stuff, is what happened in North Bayshore. Three years to do the North Bayshore Precise Plan, and three years to do it over again after it was done. And now people have asked me, what are we doing, where is that plan going? Well, market conditions changed, and now it's just not happening at all. So even as much as I loved studying this stuff, we need to move, we need to move faster, because that opportunity may not be there. So, um, yeah, I think that's what I have to say.

[00:53:37] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. And now I'm going to jump down to Erik.

[00:53:42] Erik Poicon: Hello. So I'll start off with a positive. I think things are getting better, but not as fast as we'd like. We have reduced our retail vacancy from 8% to 6% in the last two years, and downtown sales are up 10% since the last year. But even with retail improving, lock, long-term vacant storefronts continue to affect our neighboring businesses and overall the vitality of our downtown. So my first priority is to protect current businesses, understand their main cha, challenges, including rent, regulations, and honestly the changing market conditions, and intervene earlier.

[00:54:19] Erik Poicon: Second, I expect property owners to be good neighbors throughout this entire process. The city should continue to improve outreach, permitting help, and activation tools. But if property sits vacant for way too long and the owner isn't making genuine efforts to lease or improve or even redevelop, then honestly as a last resort I do support a vacancy fee. And third and lastly, uh, I want to, uh, the downtown precise plan to be as flexible for new businesses because on, we never know what the next venture is going to be of innovation and I want to make sure downtown and especially Mountain View is prepared for that.

[00:55:01] Moderator Peter Katz: Great. Alex. You've figured out my, uh, pattern here, I can tell.

[00:55:15] Alexander Amoroso: Thanks Peter. So, uh, first of all, I would like to, uh, agree with Erik as far as like holding a, businesses who have property that's been vacant accountable so there's actually some economic vitality as well as growth within the community. And I would add on and say that for businesses that have, especially large, larger corporations that have property that's been sitting there for extended periods of time, years, maybe we should also apply a land values tax, if that is possible, so that way we bring that income into the local community in lieu of just property sitting there.

[00:55:49] Alexander Amoroso: Now when it comes to, uh, encouraging businesses to be here, I go back to the labor aspect. So my biggest, um, conversation with businesses while I've been on the campaign trail is their issue is with turnover. So a lot of businesses can't keep the employees that they want to keep here, and to keep the businesses thriving is because they don't have the prevailing wages, they don't have the support in order to help these, uh, businesses thrive and have the labor that they need. So collaborating with, uh, organizations like NovaWorks and collaborating with developers on their needs to maintain employment in this area, and also make sure that it's not too expensive for them to stay there, so for example, location, location, location.

[00:56:23] Alexander Amoroso: If we're going to talk about zoning and if we're going to talk about how expensive it is for businesses as far as specific areas, that needs to be corroboration and more of a private-public partnership with those companies, and as far as, like, you know, labor above all. Thanks guys.

[00:56:43] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Idarose.

[00:56:47] Idarose Sylvester: I think first and foremost we need to actually implement our wonderful economic vitality strategy. It's got hundreds of recommendations that are not getting done. Uh, so we've done a lot of good thinking already and this is a concern I have about things in the city in general. We are excellent at planning, we need to get much, much more nimble and fast at executing on our good ideas. Um, nobody's going to say that permitting should take more time. Uh, so I w, I will double down and say yes, we need to make permitting faster and predictable.

[00:57:19] Idarose Sylvester: Uh, we need to speak the language of business owners who sometimes are not very adept at technical terms, they may have, um, need to be, uh, have information in different languages. Uh, there's cultural sensitivities sometimes, so we need to be much more meeting them where they are. We could do some zoning changes to make sure we allow more different types of uses to diversify the kind of businesses we have in different areas.

[00:57:44] Idarose Sylvester: Um, but I also want to see us not focus just on Castro. Castro is our jewel, but I want to make sure we have economic vitality throughout the city. We have many, many places where businesses are doing great, like the San Antonio Shopping Center, because we are inviting people in, we are creating the physically sized spaces that modern businesses need, we're attracting the kind of businesses people want these days. We could replicate that idea in small business centers all around the city.

[00:58:10] Idarose Sylvester: Many of those centers are suffering today because the buildings are outdated or the businesses are outdated. So I think we should be looking at bringing economic vitality and services throughout the city. Um, in terms of making it easier for businesses, I think yes, we need more housing and we need better workforce development for them too.

[00:58:28] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Sam.

[00:58:31] Samuel Ali: Simple. Uh, bring your ideas here, build it here, grow it here. That's why I would encourage entrepreneurs to come here to Mountain View because this place is unique amongst all the other cities. We have so much talent here, and I believe that Mountain View can simply just give the energy that we have towards investing in the small businesses that we have here, on, along El Camino, City, um, and Castro.

[00:58:59] Samuel Ali: Um, what I would simply just say, like, we should be, shouldn't have to have a PhD to open a business in Mountain View. You, it should be simple, it should be easy for anyone to be able to, to do. Um, again, I go back to the social media. We live in a social media world, and we can do more. The, the, the, um, the Mountain View Commerce can do more for the businesses that are already here, say, hey, we're going to sign you up for a year-long, uh, social media campaign to make pe, make your business look like, spread it across the, across the our wonderful globe here and to make sure bring people in here. Because I believe we have awesome businesses already, and I think we already have the structure that we have.

[00:59:41] Samuel Ali: Uh, this is the beautiful thing that Mountain View has already done. Mountain View is ex, successful. I don't want that to sa, say this is like doom and gloom. This, Mountain View is amazing and we're doing great work. I think we could just build upon that at simple things, simple tweaks. Because I, I, I love the city council that we have, I love the mayor that we currently have, they're doing great work, and I'm a citizen here and I'm enjoying this place, I just want to contribute and build upon the work that we're already doing, and I think we can do simple, basic, um, and I, I'm so happy. So thank you so much.

[01:00:14] Moderator Peter Katz: So I really appreciate the fact that a number of you mentioned, you know, permitting and timing, and also the city council and how well it functions and all that. If you look at it from a business lens, the city council is kind of like the city's board of directors. And so, as the board of directors, how would you measure performance and ensure accountability? All right, I'm going to start with Alex.

[01:00:47] Alexander Amoroso: So, accountability is my bread and butter as an Army officer. So not only am I enforcing accountability with the soldiers that uh work for me, but also corporations and contractors that work on the federal side. And that's the kind of expe, education and experience I am bringing to this uh conversation because with contractors that are contracted with the federal government there isn't a specific standard in terms of what, how many folks they can employ, what project they're working on, and what needs to be done, what timeframe that needs to be done. So I'd bring that same sort of energy and standard to contractors that work with the city.

[01:01:26] Alexander Amoroso: Whether it's a housing project, a business development project, and if they're not meeting those standards, then then that business needs to be taken somewhere else. Now that's also how I would uh measure that as far as the economic vitality. So I I have worked very closely with the economic development team at City Hall, because a lot of what I do in terms of helping reservists and homeless individuals find work, and we're going to be looking at metrics, we're going to look, be looking at numbers.

[01:01:53] Alexander Amoroso: So when we compare how many folks we've gotten hired and how many businesses have built up within the last year, then that's going to be our margin of error, and that's going to be how we measure success in our city. And then we can caveat that to developing which industries, which areas of development that are essential to the city and essential to our economic and environmental growth. Thank you.

[01:02:21] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Silja.

[01:02:23] Silja Paymer: Jumping around again. On our toes. Be ready. All right, um, so this is something that I'm really passionate about. Um, so I've been really active in the development of the um Parks and Rec Strategic Plan, the Biodiversity and Urban Forestry um Plan, and the Active Transportation Plan. And in all of these, one of the biggest things our group, um, Green Spaces MV, was pushing for was accountability, um, with yearly reporting and a report card dashboard. And I think this should be applied to all of our plans.

[01:02:59] Silja Paymer: Um, a plan is not a plan if the implementation is not part of the plan. Um, and so I would like to be able to see, see progress, see our growth. Um, I do, again, from that teacher mindset, I expect that growth mindset that we're always growing, but to really see the growth you need to be reflecting frequently and often and have metrics that you can actually see that growth in. Um, so I would like to do that.

[01:03:29] Silja Paymer: Um, I was reading through, when we pull our papers, one of the things at the front was that City Council is the legislative body, and staff is the executive body. And so on that side, um, I also would like to work to possibly, you know, develop the policies that we want to see in place, and work to make sure that we're saying this is the policy we want, and providing that oversight to make sure the executive, you know, staff make it all happen.

[01:03:57] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Any guesses who is next? It's Robert. Minute and a half.

[01:04:10] Robert Cox: All right. Um, you know I come from private industry for, you know, 40 years or whatever, and the first thing that we always do when we try to figure out what we want to accomplish is set a goal, figure out how you're going to be able to measure it, and then determine whether or not we were successful or not. You know, and I, I've been looking at, you know, all through these years I look at the plans that we generate, and they have some very positive things. Mostly they have wonderful amounts of facts about Mountain View and an interesting things about like just in our biodiversity and urban forest plan and also in the parks and rec plan.

[01:04:50] Robert Cox: But you know, I mean what's missing, let me just pick, take the parks and rec plan, what's missing in it is we don't say where, how much money are we going to have to do things. We don't try to estimate that. And we don't set the priorities based on that to determine whether we succeed or fail. And, you know, those are parts of a plan that make it a real plan, so that we know, and you know I think that needs to go down to city employees, the city managers should be looking at for each individual working on something, what are they going to be doing to achieve that plan?

[01:05:25] Robert Cox: I mean, a real problem is if we have many of these plans have hundreds of different goals in them. I mean how can you even get your head around that? We need to skin it down to smaller numbers of, uh, achievable and important things at a top priority list if we want to make things happen.

[01:05:44] Moderator Peter Katz: Look at that. Perfect. I'm going to go to the end of the table. Idarose.

[01:05:50] Idarose Sylvester: I've sat on the actual board of directors of several nonprofits and also some for-profit businesses. And the board of directors always needs to start with understanding and establishing the values of the organization. The values of that organization then has directs the vision, which then directs the actual plans of the organization. And as several people have already said, to have a plan you need to have priorities, budget, people assigned to those, to those projects, and accountability for what will happen if a goal is missed in terms of timeline or budget.

[01:06:26] Idarose Sylvester: Uh, that requires regular checks against those goals, and it requires frequent course correction. Not once a year, but as often as needed to make sure that those major objectives are being met. Um, an important part that, at least in city council, is to absolutely communicate with your customers. Are you meeting what they need from your organization? Are you talking to businesses, residents, um, big companies, small companies, do you listen and understand how the outside world is judging your performance as well, so not just against a checklist, but against what the, if you will, the market says.

[01:07:01] Idarose Sylvester: Um, and again I think something that can miss, be missed in government is that course correction. Like oops, we're not going fast enough, we need to adjust, let's do that quickly without going back to the beginning and studying it all over again.

[01:07:17] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. And now to the other end of the table. Sam.

[01:07:23] Samuel Ali: I think with uh, the main thing here is accountability. So when we here, get a vision, are you clearly communicating that to the team? And um, and making sure that everyone understands the vision of what we're doing. Um, as a leader, you have to be able to meet people where they are and help bring them along. Um, and if something is happening, or you're missing, you're missing the mark, or what not, you have to be able to be open enough to communicate and to able to give off those things like, hey, I don't understand this. And we can work together.

[01:08:01] Samuel Ali: And I think that's what we need to do is to make sure how we can have, uh, accountability and how we can course correct things, um, in a timely manner. It goes back to communication, working with each other, because we all are here to achieve a common goal. Uh, when it comes to businesses, when it comes to, uh, people who are, you know, trying to develop something here in Mountain View. Um, and especially in government, we just need to be able to be open when things aren't working right, and be able to cheer for things that aren't, that are working right. Um, and to make sure that you are lifting up the people who are making the difference, and encouraging them because that's what's going to make them want to come back to work, make them want to come back to doing what they're with, with, to accomplish the goal and the vision. Um, and so that is simple, cut, short, that's what I would do. Thank you.

[01:08:54] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Paul.

[01:08:59] Commissioner Paul Donahue: The city has, as, as have been mentioned, a lot of plans. In fact, through this campaign I've actually learned that there are way more plans that I, than even I thought. There's, there's probably probably a hundred or more different plans all over the city's website. Uh, I can't hope to have have read all of them in great detail. But, um, the, so for instance, one plan that I did know about is the Community Tree Master Plan which was recently kind of overridden, but through that process the the city had a goal of planting 1300 trees and during the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan update, we discovered that the city didn't really know how many trees had been planted towards that goal.

[01:09:46] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Well, if you're not measuring things, and you're not paying attention, you can't possibly meet the goal. So we need to pay more attention, and we need to analyze the data. The, I'm an engineer, I, I just dive into data, and I need to see a dashboard and understand how we're, how we're doing that. As far as accountability, the, the culture is set from the top. The board of directors hires the CEO, and and the board sets the culture and the CEO propagates the culture through the rest of the organization. The, the accountability needs to start at the top, and that's what I would, uh, would advocate for.

[01:10:27] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Erik.

[01:10:31] Erik Poicon: My heart was beating fast. Like who is it? It's exciting. Uh, for me, accountability means outcomes people can actually see. Uh, Mountain View already tracks performance and permit activity and I want to make sure that we're using that data to identify where businesses are getting stuck and what city needs to improve. I want Mountain View to be a place where businesses can, as I mentioned before, start, stay, and grow. And we should measure that whether it's actually happening and ask ourselves if we want Mountain View to be a place where business can start, are businesses opening faster? Are applications moving through without any snags? And once they're open, are we able to retain them?

[01:11:17] Erik Poicon: Those outcomes are things that council can measure. If the data shows that we need more staff, then we can talk about that. And if the problem is that outdated processes or policies or bad handoff between departments, then that's something as council we should be able to address and fix. Uh, for me it's about setting clear expectations, measures that act, have actual results, and focus on what needs to be improved.

[01:11:42] Moderator Peter Katz: James, I haven't forgotten about you.

[01:11:46] James Kuszmaul: Excellent. For me, for almost every topic there's a strategic goal and a tactical goal. So on housing, we need to build a certain amount of housing and get rents down a certain amount. But by the time we measure that in four years, people have already been paying too much, people have already been pushed into homelessness because of the high cost of housing. And so when we look at things like Assembly Bill 130, which requires that we have certain permitting timelines, we should actually have dashboards and clear data as to how long the permitting is taking. I've asked the city's Community Development Director to have more transparency on how long permits are taking to understand where the actual problem spots are, and then go fix this, fix those before we have a bigger problem.

[01:12:32] James Kuszmaul: On the city's active transportation plan to improve biking and walking in the city, we have a Vision Zero goal of getting zero traffic fatalities in the city by 2030, but if when we check then it'll be too late. And so we need to have specific measures for the city in our active transportation plan, which we do, have some, um, to make sure we're building enough projects. And lastly, to compare the city to a business. The ci, city staff are amazing, you don't go into city government unless you want to help, but we need to make sure, and we need, so we need to make sure that we are helping our city staff do their best, and we need to do a better job of tracking how much turnover we have in the city, whether ci, city staff are leaving the city too much, and how to make sure we are the best city to work for in the area so we can deliver the best for our residents. Thank you.

[01:13:19] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. So, we've heard a few, uh, pieces of legislation thrown out, um, by number or by name. One that's coming up is SB7, well, one that's actually in place is, is SB79, which calls for increased development near transit hubs. It went into effect last month. What impact do you feel this will have on our downtown and San Antonio, our second downtown, also a transit center? Um, and especially our Economic Vitality Plan? And what actions do you feel are appropriate for the city to consider? Okay. Do you all get that? All right, so I'm going to start at this point with Erik.

[01:14:08] Erik Poicon: Okay. So, I believe that SB 79 introduces a conversation that we should have about how we want to build our downtown. I think our focus should be more on the tools we have and moving with those tools with more urgency. Um, council has already directed work on objective standards and transit oriented development, affirmative plan. I support having clear rules upfront because I, I truly believe that if residents and uh both businesses have a, know what to expect then we'll be able to move more smoothly.

[01:14:41] Erik Poicon: Uh, my concern is timing. Uh, the downtown precise plan update is on hold and isn't going to be scheduled to be heard until uh February, and I want to make sure that we're able to shape what we can locally control and not drag out the process for more years to come because we know that gets more expensive, uh, over time. I think it's important to note that SB 79 doesn't impact our Economic Vitality Strategy and the work should continue to move forward which means retaining our businesses, filling our storefronts, and strengthening our downtown and other business areas right, Moffett, North Bayshore and other, uh, and so forth. So our goal should be making sure that we're building more housing but also making a stronger downtown or stronger economy uh throughout Mountain View not pitting them against each other in the years to come.

[01:15:28] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. We'll go to Paul.

[01:15:33] Commissioner Paul Donahue: So I was, I was advised that, not to spend any time uh giving context. But I think that it's important here that, to to give a little bit of context. So SP 79 says that by right people can develop between five and nine story buildings uh near transit uh stops and that affects twenty twenty-one percent of uh the city of Mountain View. Uh, particularly near the two Caltrain stations at San Antonio and and Castro.

[01:16:02] Commissioner Paul Donahue: So, but it does allow the city to develop a transit oriented development alternative plan, and that was something that I strongly advocated for on the Environmental Planning Commission last fall, that we get a a a alternative plan in place so that uh because the this one-size-fits-all approach from Sacramento uh is not really right for the conditions on the ground in Mountain View. It allows us to still develop the housing but to shift it around to places that are appropriate in in our community.

[01:16:36] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Um, so I, I like I said, I would like to see a an alternative plan uh put in place for both, uh train stations or at least investigated for both train stations, and um and that does fit into the the downtown precise plan and the Moffett Boulevard precise plan updates, well the Moffett Boulevard it would be a new precise plan. But those two plans that are in the process now. So it we need to have a cohesive holistic approach to this. Thank you.

[01:17:08] Moderator Peter Katz: And thank you for the extra extra context. I'm going to move down to Sam.

[01:17:14] Samuel Ali: So housing near transit is is a great, great idea. I'm blessed to be able to live on Bush Street and I take Caltrain whenever I, do we have any Giants fans in here, SF Giants fans? Okay awesome, great, I get to enjoy going taking Caltrain and going all the way to San Francisco and then coming back. Um I think housing near near transits and going, um, I I think that's beautiful amazing I just think that we need to make sure that we're, when were implementing these, this growth in our city, that we are making sure that we're not forgetting affordable housing when it comes to those developments, uh that we're thinking about everyone not just you know people who can afford you know high-rise buildings but uh everyone um because that's what makes this beautiful city here in Mountain View flourish. When you go down downtown Mountain View it looks like the United Nations and I love that, we get all all cultures and all all all all creeds coming here and and and investing into Mountain View. I think this is awesome, I just think that we need to make sure that it's uh it's for everyone. Thank you.

[01:18:23] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Silja.

[01:18:26] Silja Paymer: Um, all right, so, I guess I'm going to start with a little story. Um, when I, I moved to Mountain View, I actually grew up in Palo Alto, so I still have a lot of connections there. Um, part of why I needed to move to Mountain View is I could no longer to live, afford to live in Palo Alto, so I've been through that experience, and I do see that sort of happening in Mountain View as well. And so I see the importance in adding housing so that the kids who grew up here can live here. Um, that's part of that future we're designing for our children.

[01:19:03] Silja Paymer: Um, but within that I remember when I was very pregnant, going to classes in Palo Alto, in one of their historic buildings, and I could not go to the bathroom. I could not close the door, because my belly was in the way. And one of the things when I came back to Mountain View that I love about Mountain View is we retained that historic feel downtown, but if you go inside the buildings, we improved their functionality. We have full-size bathrooms, we have um, you can walk down the hallways, um, even as a very large pregnant woman. Um, and so that made me realize too, then later with strollers, I realized how much we need to be able to access these spaces, um, for wheeled you know tools of varieties for different people.

[01:19:52] Silja Paymer: Um, and so that's what I want to do. I want to keep the feeling of that history while adding that function. And as someone who um lived in Europe for a while, and people who have visited Europe, um, I think what people, what we don't notice is what is so amazing is they actually do have four and five stories everywhere. Around those plazas, go back and look at your favorite picture of that nice coffee you had in a plaza, and look at how big those buildings stay, are, but they're beautiful. And so there's ways that we can add this density with beauty and with retaining this historic feel, and so I do hope with an alternative plan, with the downtown precise plan, and with objective design standards, we can sort of rise to this challenge and create um the housing that we need while really still holding on to our feel of Mountain View and all the things that we love about it. Thank you.

[01:20:33] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Idarose.

[01:20:38] Idarose Sylvester: I will admit a lot of people talk to me about SB 79, a lot of people are very, very concerned. So I, I would like to share the lens that I've been looking at SB 79 and how I talk to people about it. Um, I definitely believe that we need a local alternative plan that looks at where we could build housing throughout the city. Uh, what neighborhoods could use more, where it makes sense. And I also think we need to work on our objective standards. And all I think everyone here would agree to that.

[01:21:09] Idarose Sylvester: Um, you did ask specifically how it will impact downtown and San Antonio Center, I think SB 79 is probably going to help as, uh, San Antonio Center become a thriving downtown, a second downtown. But in terms of our own existing downtown on Castro, I know there's a lot of concern about our historic core and about preserving local businesses. And I do believe that we need to focus on saving what makes Mountain View special, which includes history and local businesses. So I believe those are things that can coexist with SB 79 and we shouldn't assume that they won't.

[01:21:43] Idarose Sylvester: My big concerns are about, uh, and someone else mentioned this, our other precise plans like downtown precise plan, the Moffett Boulevard plan, the work we're doing out in Whisman, uh, which is also impacted by SB 79. How do we balance what SB 79 asks us to do with the kind of plans and the vision that we have for our, our own city? But what I like to tell people is that policies don't create projects, developers do, and I know that our city has had phenomenal relationships with developers for years, and that's something that we're going to need to keep doing to work with them on building the projects we want.

[01:22:19] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right. It's time for James.

[01:22:26] James Kuszmaul: Thank you. So for my own story, I, I grew up quite near the Mountain View, downtown Mountain View Caltrain station. I've been fortunate enough that there is a 60ish year old apartment complex literally next door to my parent's house where I was able to and still do rent an apartment that is near transit, makes it easy for me to get to my job, easy for me to get around wherever I want on the weekends. And more people should have access to that. And SB 79 just goes and does that for us. Doesn't require the city to do a whole extra plan, which might have taken years. Um, but there are things that we do need to do well in implementing SB 79. So, people have talked about objective standards.

[01:23:08] James Kuszmaul: We do want, SB 79 is focused on housing. We should make it so that in all those lots affected by SB 79, we can also have ground floor retail, we can also have places for people can go shop, eat, work. Um, I want to note SB 79 does also affect the light rail stations, by the way, um, where we should also have all these good things. And, but on the local alternative plan, the, I am much more wary than some of the others here about trying to spend staff time on a local alternative plan.

[01:23:37] James Kuszmaul: From the requirements of SB 79 are quite stringent about what you can include, and I don't want to spend another year of staff time not doing all these other permitting improvements we want to do, not doing all these other things for the city, and end up with an alternative plan that doesn't make anyone happy and doesn't actually produce better policy outcomes than the baseline SB 79. And I think we should focus more of our efforts on the design standards, making sure that what goes in is, what is feasible to build and is what is going to make sure we build a very complete and walkable framework to the city.

[01:24:02] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Robert.

[01:24:06] Robert Cox: 1:30?

[01:24:08] Moderator Peter Katz: 1:30.

[01:24:10] Robert Cox: Okay. One of the great, one of the great things about being retired is I have the time now to like dial in on all the state legislation things that I'm concerned about, and I watched all the SB 79 uh proceedings. And I was concerned when it was done, because uh you know, here it is, you know it's another one of these state mandates that's a one size fits all, and has really serious implications for us in Mountain View because our downtown historic retail district is within a half a mile of the transit center. So how can we have both?

[01:24:48] Robert Cox: We need to be able to have an alternative plan that allows the council to take those first three blocks of Castro Street and say we want to be the ones who determine how it goes forward. And so that's, that's what I believe and advocate, I actually went and talked to city staff through our group Livable Mountain View back in October and I presented a plan to make that happen, uh, an alternative plan for consideration. Um, so I think we need to do that with respect to San Antonio, we can look at what can be done there.

[01:25:19] Robert Cox: I, you know, a lot of talk said that we can't get this done in enough time, and yet both Palo Alto and Sunnyvale have managed to move forward while we're still sitting here. So I, I really think that our downtown is the heartbeat of the city, city's uh, the community's living room and something worth preserving and I'm all in.

[01:25:46] Moderator Peter Katz: All right. Alex, I bet you know who I'm going to call on next. Whenever you're ready.

[01:25:54] Alexander Amoroso: So, I am a very pro public transit guy. If it wasn't for uh public transportation I probably wouldn't have been able to get to school. That said, there needs to be a very specific strategy to how we uh marry public transit with our housing and also our environment. So, as much as I'm for public transit, I'm also not for housing and building for the sake of building, unless there are standards involved. So when it comes to SB 79, uh, I like the idea behind uh new transit next to, uh, housing, but also to the point to where we can always capitalize on our local infrastructure here in Mountain View.

[01:26:35] Alexander Amoroso: We have Mountain View Go, we have the local community shuttle. So instead of going the route of new transit next to new, next to existing housing, how about we build new housing with new public transit, new bus stops. Because again, there are folks out there who cannot drive, who cannot get to and from unless they have that public transit. And also to the point to where anything that's built needs to be sustainable. Needs to be cognizant with an environment because we need to maintain that standard to retaining the environmental health of our city.

[01:27:04] Alexander Amoroso: And now we can also, there's a lot of issues with the collaboration looking at a specific plan. So I think using a specific plan for our city we can collaborate that with HR 61, 21st Century Road Housing, to the Housing Act, which again, US Congress, I know weird situation to collaborate with the US Congress. But they can provide the housing plans, we can provide the transit plans, and that's Mountain View's plan. Thank you.

[01:27:30] Moderator Peter Katz: I like your beeping better than mine. Thank you. All right, I'm actually going to start with um, Robert this time. And the question here actually is is a flavor of of development here, and that is that um, you often hear we need to build this, we need to build that, we need to build this, and a lot of you have said it's housing housing housing. In fact, I remember somebody who um was speaking recently and said, all right before we get started the answer to every question is housing. But there's the other side, which is it's great to say we need this, we need this, we need this. It's the other to say, can we build it? Um, one of the things that the chamber was speaking out on on the housing element was it's wonderful that we have these different areas as recommended for housing, but will it pencil out? And so what I would like to ask the candidates here, um starting with you, is what factors are important to you when you consider major new development projects?

[01:28:35] Robert Cox: Okay. 1:30?

[01:28:37] Moderator Peter Katz: Okay.

[01:28:39] Robert Cox: Um, the first thing that I do is I look and I say how is this going to be able to contribute to our community. So for uh development project that is office, it's new jobs. You know, something that's commercial, it's new services for people. And for housing, it lets people live closer to where they live, and you know, just reduces greenhouse gases. And so those are all the kinds of things that are the goodness. And I would say that, you know, the state right now is telling us that we have less ability to decide things, but it's still important for things like gatekeeper projects. And so I think those are considerations that we need to look at.

[01:29:17] Robert Cox: The second thing I would say is, I would look at how is it that this new project is going to affect the area around it? So, I mean, you know, ideally, we would like it to have, you know, sensitive transitions to existing neighborhoods. We would like to have understand the traffic and parking impacts. But in, in general, we want it to fit in well and work well, you know, in the environment it's going to be. And then I'd say the last thing, you know, when I look at development, I look at, you know, environmental sustainability. And that that's just a key thing. You know, when I was on the Planning Commission, uh, like we had three new headquarters...

Segment 3

[01:30:00] Robert Cox: Google, Intuit, and LinkedIn. And the kinds of things we looked at are, you know, solar capability, um, biodiversity and native plants, and those kinds of things.

[01:30:13] Moderator Peter Katz: And I'm sure a lot more.

[01:30:15] Robert Cox: Yeah.

[01:30:16] Moderator Peter Katz: Oh wait, there's more. I'm going to go down the row. Silja.

[01:30:23] Silja Paymer: Cool. Um, so if we're going to be serious about housing, we can, you know, ask the developers for it, but I think the thing we can take the most action on is actually building it ourselves. And we can't build it by ourselves, um, it would need to prioritize our partnerships with non-profits and with getting grants, um, to build affordable housing, um, for instance, like the, uh, units that will be downtown and those will all be customers that live downtown. Um, and so, um, I really think we need to work on these partnerships, um, because A, it's for the kids, we've talked about that, but also I'm sort of selfish, and I recognize at some point I'm not going to want to do maintenance on my house, and I'm going to want to downsize, but right now I don't have an option to downsize and stay in my community. So we need these affordable housing units for ourselves, for those of us who want to be able to, you know, be walkable to the downtown when we no longer maybe feel comfortable driving. Um, so I, I think we've seen as someone mentioned a lot with North Bayshore, we've seen some of these projects where we really thought there was going to be a lot of housing, and there was actually a lot of enthusiasm, the process was slow, but then at the end, it didn't happen at all. And so we also can't just completely rely on developers. Um, we should still support them, I think predictability and expectations really makes things move faster. Um, what we've noticed in our, um, activity in Green Spaces MV is, um, about five years ago every single developer who came in we said, hey, we'd really wish you'd put in native plants, dark skies compliant and bird-safe design, and now they all just show up with it because they know we're going to ask. And we can do that as a city too, make a plan and ask for it every time.

[01:32:06] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Okay, let's go to Idarose.

[01:32:11] Idarose Sylvester: The first question I would ask is does this project provide more benefit than it, does it do harm? Um, and basically are we getting a better community because of this project? Um, does the project meet our long-term goals in the city for the type of housing that we need, our economic vitality, our parks, safety, our road systems, do we have the schools to support it? Uh, I think we have to look at the whole package, but very specific to housing because we are talking about the housing element, are these projects actually going to pencil out and get built? Um, right now there is a tremendous amount of economic uncertainty, interest rates are high, labor is in shortage, building materials cost a fortune. So if we approve a project with what certainty do we think it's going to get built within the housing element cycle? Or frankly, at all. Uh, so what kind of housing and what kind of projects will actually get built is really important to me. As is are we building the right kind of housing that we need? We know that over 50% of our city lives below 80% of the AMI income. So are we actually building the housing that people can afford both as a renter and as an owner? Um, and if not, I think we also need to question what kind of projects we are looking at and approving first and foremost.

[01:33:30] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right. Let's go to James.

[01:33:34] James Kuszmaul: In terms of the right of new developments, I'll mention that most new developments, as a practical matter, if they're tearing up the sidewalk or the such, end up making local improvements. We've seen wonderful new North Bayshore protected bike lanes with, uh, greenery that I'd love to see in more of the city. But to me, new housing especially is itself a public good. More people being able to live in Mountain View, and an increasing supply of housing so it's more affordable to live in Mountain View, and so that anyone seeking opportunity, seeking to live in a state where they may not have access to reproductive rights or gender-affirming care. It is good if those people can move to Mountain View, and it's good if we can welcome them as our neighbors. And it's good if they can live in, in modern buildings that unlike the building I live in, meet modern earthquake codes and modern fire codes. And we should not presume that every new building is a place to extract something for the people who currently live here when we have future residents and residents who may in the future move into different housing as they age, to think about. Thank you.

[01:34:39] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. I'm going to come back to this side. Alex.

[01:34:43] Alexander Amoroso: So I think of this question in terms of like a military officer. What is the goal, what is the mission, what is the end state? So when I was overseas, that was the predominant conversation I was having with a number of contractors and soldiers, where our mission was logistics, sustainment, and property development and management. So if the goal is to build our development and increase the expectation and success of folks who live here, then that is the goal we need to start shooting for. So in regards to this topic, because I know there was a lot of conversation about, um, affordable housing and building things so people can afford to live here, I completely agree. So that's why I think workforce housing has economically proven to be that good stop gap between market housing and affordable housing. So once we have that workforce housing as a standard in this city, then we can start growing from there, because market housing provides living spaces for essential workers who won't have to worry about moving somewhere else once they reach a certain income cap. And also, you have folks that are living here, they're not commuting from other spaces, and that brings a level of development and success to the city. Also, let's explore UBI. We've prototyped GBI in the city during the pandemic. So if we have a UBI, much like how in the Army we have a basic allowance for housing, then we can also have that same success and sustainment for our people here. Thank you.

[01:36:21] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Erik.

[01:36:24] Erik Poicon: For me the question is does the project make it easier, better for people who live and work here. So I'd focus on five things. First, affordability. If it's housing, who can actually afford it. And I think we can legitimately say things are getting more and more expensive and people aren't, especially those who live currently in Mountain View, aren't able to transition to new affordable, affordable housing. Uh, infrastructure, does the project help address transportation and public service needs that come with growth? Uh, sustainability, is it easier to get there by walking, biking, or through public transit? Jobs, I'm an SEIU member, a proud union member, and I believe that growth should come with the development of jobs, not just focusing on housing. Um, community impacts, are residents better off because we approved it? I support growth, but it should be transparent and deliver the benefits for our community. And I think that's what every council should be looking for. And as council it should be very clear and up front what we are seeking in these projects. Review shouldn't be just a simple yes or no, it should be a conversation on what are the public goods, are we going to make sure it's successful and well funded, and are our community members going to benefit through it for years to come.

[01:37:42] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Sam.

[01:37:46] Samuel Ali: I would simply say, I'm new to politics, but I'm not new to Mountain View. This is my home. And when I look at developments that have taken place, are we knocking on the communities that we're going to be, um, improving or developing those areas? Are we actually talking to the citizens? Uh, have we collected data from the brand new apartments that are going up here in Mountain View? How many of those are currently vacant? You know, we got to look at those things before we make a decision. And talking to people. Our jobs here in City Council is to listen. You. To you. The people here in Mountain View. And to hear your voice and hear what you have to say. Not coming here and talking about, hey, I know how to do this or this or that. No. This is our community. And we want to have a voice in it. And when we look at these new developments that are taking place, is it really going to benefit someone, is it going to help someone, is it going to, if it is, awesome, let's do it, let's move forward with it. But I think that we we need to get back to the basics here in Mountain View is to talking to our citizens. And I see those signs out there, hey, scan the QR code, come out and meet, like that's awesome. Um, I think we could be doing more engagement with our city, uh, city here, and talking to them, and meeting them where they're at. Um, I am all for development. I just think that we need to do it in a proper and fiscal way, but also too as well, accountable way. Thank you.

[01:39:20] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right, Paul, bring us home.

[01:39:24] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Okay, so development, reviewing development proposals is kind of the bread and butter of the Environmental Planning Commission. I'm the vice chair of that. The thing that I always ask is does it serve the people, all of the people. The, I don't know if any of you have seen the city's org chart, but I think it's brilliant. It has the all the city staff reporting to the city council, but at the top of the org chart is the residents of Mountain View. And it's the city council reports to the residents of Mountain View. And those are the people that that I always am looking at to to determine if it makes sense. So we, as I mentioned before, we have a number of plans. We have uh the general plan, the precise plans, uh biodiversity and urban forest plan, lots of plans, and those have gone through an extensive public process. So the community, the people have together expressed the vision for Mountain View. So how do, does this development proposal further the goals of what people have decided they want Mountain View to be? Uh, is it compatible with surrounding neighborhoods? Does it meet the goals of housing, of parks, of canopy, neighborhood serving retail, does it fit in with existing uh infrastructure? So to me it always comes back to serving the people.

[01:40:53] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right. One last big question. And that is, the city projects a structural fiscal deficit through FY 29 to 30. How will you help grow revenue in the city to meet the forthcoming budget deficits while ensuring local businesses thrive? What new streams of revenue would you explore? And with that, you know, Paul, we ended with you, so why don't we start with you?

[01:41:21] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Well I think you already started with me one time, but that's okay. That's okay, I love your kind of random number generator that you've got going on here. Um, so anyway.

[01:41:32] Moderator Peter Katz: We we are a tech company here.

[01:41:34] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yeah, whatever. So anyway, um, now I've already forgotten the question.

[01:41:40] Moderator Peter Katz: The city projects a structural deficit through FY 29 to 30. How will you help grow revenue in the city to meet forthcoming budget deficits while ensuring local businesses thrive?

[01:41:50] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yeah, so I actually have experience doing this, uh, during the financial meltdown in 2009, which seems like it was quite a long time ago, but I've been around for a while. Um, the the city had some budget problems, and I was on the Parks and Recreation Commission at the time, and so we went through all of the recreation programs and tried to increase cost recovery. We analyzed each program and whether it was primarily benefiting an individual, whether it uh benefited a um, kind of a disadvantaged group, uh or whether it benefited the community as a whole. And then we increased cost recovery, basically increased the fees for um for things that just primarily benefited a single individual. So basically increasing the increasing the the fees that the city charges to try to recoup its funding uh is is a thing that I primarily look at. Uh, the thing that I really want to protect is public safety. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, public safety is right at the bottom. If you don't have safety, you can't do anything else. Um, I also would like to uh avoid layoffs of city staff, which we did back in the in the uh 2009 timeframe. And um, those are the the the primary things I do, increase cost recovery and uh protect public safety. Thank you.

[01:43:19] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. All right, we're going to go down the row. James.

[01:43:24] James Kuszmaul: All right. There's a, oh, I'll talk about housing again first. The, one of the biggest sources, one of the biggest pieces of the city budget is property tax revenue. And because of the structure of um Prop 13 in California, if properties are never redeveloped, we never get new property tax revenue. And new apartment buildings are also more efficient to serve as a city because all the garbage collections together, all of that. And so if we can encourage new development and encourage, make it so that our building standards and permits are such that properties actually get redeveloped, we will improve the city's fiscal standing long term. It may become necessary, if the fiscal situation worsens too much, to put additional revenue measures on the ballot. I'd want to focus on measures that are evenly spread and have predictable revenue. We do also have a revenue ballot on the measure this November, it's a basically a hotel tax, you should probably vote for it to help the city's fiscal sustainability. Um, and, but fundamentally I would keep an eye on the long term health of the city and put new measures forward that are sustainable if needed. The, since we're talking about tax measures, I'm also going to throw in a pitch for public transit systems which are facing an even worse deficit right now. There is a regional transit measure sales tax on the ballot this November. I would encourage you to vote for it so that Caltrain doesn't disappear on the weekends. Thank you.

[01:44:43] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Continuing down. Silja.

[01:44:48] Silja Paymer: Thank you. Um, so I sort of mentioned one already, so I'll just kind of say that, but um, I do think a vacancy fee is, it would be small, but I think it would um leverage a small fee, but actually for much more benefit, right? So once we're not having those vacancies, those people, those businesses, those residents whatever, um, 'cause I do believe it could apply to residencies as well, residences as well. Um, they're all part of our economy, right? So making sure that um every part of our city is part of our city and is um collaborating in our economic success. Um, I do understand there will be cuts often in these situations, um but I do think sometimes we get so focused on cost, we don't balance good cost versus benefit. We'll cut something that seems like it's an easy cut, but not realizing that those dollars would have um grown exponentially. Like a lot of the business support dollars. Those aren't things that we want to cut, because we know that those dollars end up coming back threefold, fourfold to our community. Um, so really making sure that we are being thoughtful about which things we cut, and then um when things are better, hopefully bring them back. I know it, I think it took 10 years before we got some of those fees back down again so that um people could utilize our public resources. Um, and then also, this is one of my pet projects, but utilizing our volunteers to main quality, maintain the quality of life, and leverage the dollars we spend. Um, we work with Canopy for our tree restoration, um we're starting to look at how volunteers can put native plants into our parks where we have to remove the turf and things like that. Thanks.

[01:46:27] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Erik.

[01:46:30] Erik Poicon: Yeah, so I'd start by reviewing the spending of the money we already have. Uh, before asking businesses or residents for more, we should look at efficiencies, review lower priority spending, and make sure permanent programs remain permanent. Uh, but also we have to make sure that we're growing our way into a stronger fiscal position, and that means helping businesses start, stay, and grow. Filling vacant storefronts and offices, attracting new employers, and supporting development that strengthens our economy. Um, I'd also like to review sources that wouldn't put burdens on our small businesses or our residents either. So, as you heard, Measure F will be on the ballot, and that's money that we can use very much effectively that wouldn't place a burden on you, but it could dang well fund vital services that we need in order to prevent job losses, loss of vital services, and continue the production of the necessary housing that we need. Um, also pursuing grants and regional partnerships, and working towards making sure that we have better uses of our assets. Uh, for me it's about focusing on growth and to make sure that the city can grow along with it as we are developing into that Mountain View of tomorrow.

[01:47:47] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Idarose.

[01:47:49] Idarose Sylvester: As an entrepreneur, I actually care very much about fiscal responsibility. But Mountain View has had, has been fiscally strong for a very, very long time. We've had a AAA bond rating for a long time. We've avoided any kind of layoffs. We have a reputation for very responsible financial management, and that's something that matters to me to keep. But when Peter mentions the deficit, we're looking at a relatively small dip, as our expenses increase faster than our revenues, but we're talking a few million dollars, not necessarily a catastrophic amount. So it's something we need to keep an eye on to make sure that we don't have a long term increase of expenses that exceed our revenue, for one thing. Um, there's a few things I think we can do. Our number one uh way we make money is through property tax. So we need to make sure that Mountain View is a place that people want to call home, and to own businesses, to keep that stable. We've seen quite the dip in our sales tax revenue, so again it goes back to this entire conversation about economic vitality, and having neighborhood serving businesses that people want to shop at. Uh, making sure that we have our vacant storefronts filled, and that we encourage diversity in our economy. Um, I'm a definitely a fan of the transient occupancy tax. That alone could make up the budget deficit that we are talking about. And it's non-regressive and doesn't hurt the residents of our community. Um, I'll stop there, but saying that we do need to keep an eye on the long term costs. And we're growing. The costs are going to go up. So we might have to make some difficult decisions and look at different measures in the longer term.

[01:49:24] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Come back to Sam.

[01:49:27] Samuel Ali: Again, I go back to accountability here in the city. We have to look inward, um, at the, the money that we're spending, and, and how we're utilizing it. Um, also, um, I want to say that, again, we need to be investing into these small businesses, large businesses, um, through social media. I think it is such a powerful tool. How we can connect, even with the e-commerce here. How they're utilizing Instagram and Facebook. We could be doing more for our businesses here. And what, what does that do? That helps you. The citizens here in Mountain View. Because guess what? People are wanting to come here. People are wanting to spend their money here. People are wanting to start here and grow here and develop here. Um, I just think that we can't lose sight of that. How we're, we're doing great. And I think that we just need that little bit of push to be able to bring Mountain View to the forefront, and to continue showing off our beautiful city, and the beautiful companies, and the beautiful, uh, people who live here and grow here and develop here. Um, I just think that we can't say enough, like that's going to bring in money into this beautiful city. Also too as well, we can collaborate with these big tech companies that we do have here. Show them, hey, Mountain View loves you. We, we, we support you. We want to, we want to, we want to encourage a collaboration, a family environment here. And guess what? That's going to bring more revenue into this beautiful city. So I just think that we can utilize that, and thank you so much.

[01:52:02] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Alex.

[01:52:06] Alexander Amoroso: So, uh, much like Paul, I also have experience in this uh area, uh more along the sides of the federal side rather than the uh local side from that perspective, but uh the work that I've done has affected this local city. So besides the idea of implementing uh higher fees or land value tax on project owners and uh property owners that aren't developing business, we can actually tap into an already vital resource that's just right up the road, Moffett Field. The Moffett Field uh community, because not just with the military, because I have helped and worked with reservists and national guardsmen who, like me, work in their local communities and still serve in uniform to find jobs around this local area, and that provides staff to the local businesses as well. But also, we can corroborate with those agencies up the road. NASA with their tech and their startups that uh contract with the organization, NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, when it comes to the environment, when it comes to green jobs, and then of course with the Army Corps of Engineers, uh the US Air Force and National Guard, they can provide dollars, federal dollars to this community so we don't have to really stopgap from what Sacramento may or may not provide to us, because again, these are also folks that live and serve in this community as well and they're happy to uh provide their service and leadership. Thank you.

[01:53:34] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Robert.

[01:53:37] Robert Cox: So I think when we're talking about budget cuts or that might be needed or whatever, I think the first thing is to identify what's really essential in the city. And the first thing is public safety. About 40% I believe of our budget goes to public safety and that uh you don't have a city if you don't have that working well. The second thing is um maintenance uh through public works particularly of our roads and infrastructure. If you delay the work on that an unusual or um amount of time, then you're going to pay more in the long run because I mean the things falling apart and not getting regular maintenance are much more costly in the future and we found that at City Council meetings um this uh last year. So beyond that, you know, I agree with Paul in terms of getting cost recovery on you know optional recreational programs. Um you know, particularly putting down um getting the money where it benefits primarily individuals over groups. And then finally I am a supporter of the transient occupancy tax. I think it's better than the choice we had raising property taxes in general and mostly because if you look in the details you'll see that we have a much lower tax than cities in the Bay Area and so we could raise it uh somewhat without you know causing a serious problem you know in terms of our local businesses. So, that's my thoughts.

[01:55:09] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. And I just want to say those were a lot of hard questions so give yourselves a hand on that one. All right. Time to take a quick swig. Shake it out a little bit. We're going to the lightning round. And the way the lightning round works is, no one minute, no timer. It's a yes, a no, or haven't made up my mind yet. I will give you that out. All right? So, first question, and I am just going to go shoot down the line here because it's lightning round. Do you see a need for more office development downtown?

[01:55:48] Samuel Ali: Yes.

[01:55:50] Alexander Amoroso: Yes.

[01:55:51] Robert Cox: Not right now.

[01:55:54] James Kuszmaul: Not right now. A bit.

[01:55:58] Silja Paymer: Not right now.

[01:56:00] Erik Poicon: Yes, with reservations.

[01:56:02] Idarose Sylvester: Yes, but the right type.

[01:56:05] Moderator Peter Katz: Perfect. You guys have the rules down. This is great. Okay. All right. Staying on the development theme. Do you support large scale office development in North Bayshore? Sam?

[01:56:20] Samuel Ali: Yes.

[01:56:22] Alexander Amoroso: No.

[01:56:24] Robert Cox: Yes.

[01:56:25] James Kuszmaul: Maybe. A bit.

[01:56:28] Silja Paymer: Depends what it comes with.

[01:56:30] Erik Poicon: Yes, with reservations.

[01:56:34] Idarose Sylvester: Yes, with complete communities.

[01:56:38] Moderator Peter Katz: Okay. All right, you guys actually some of you have already answered this question, but I think we want to hear from everyone. How do you feel about the uh transit transient occupancy tax increase measure?

[01:56:54] Samuel Ali: Uh, yes I agree with it. Thank you.

[01:56:59] Alexander Amoroso: I agree with it as long as there is further development to lowering the tax and getting these folks to where they need to go. Thank you.

[01:57:09] Robert Cox: I'm voting yes.

[01:57:11] Commissioner Paul Donahue: I'm voting yes.

[01:57:12] James Kuszmaul: Yes.

[01:57:13] Silja Paymer: Yes.

[01:57:14] Erik Poicon: Yes.

[01:57:16] Idarose Sylvester: Yes.

[01:57:18] Moderator Peter Katz: Here's another one from the ballot. The Regional Transportation Measure, Connect Bay Area, assesses a half-cent tax to improve integrated transit as well as prevent cuts in service. Are you for, against, or take no position? Sam?

[01:57:34] Samuel Ali: I'm for it.

[01:57:36] Alexander Amoroso: Absolutely.

[01:57:39] Robert Cox: Voting yes.

[01:57:40] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Yes.

[01:57:41] James Kuszmaul: Yes.

[01:57:42] Silja Paymer: Enthusiastic support.

[01:57:44] Erik Poicon: Yes.

[01:57:45] Idarose Sylvester: Yes, and publicly endorsed.

[01:57:49] Moderator Peter Katz: There we go. All right. Okay, how many more. Um, Proposition 45 seeks to streamline the California Environment Qual, Environmental Quality Act or CEQA review process while not sacrificing any protections. What's your opinion? Sam?

[01:58:10] Samuel Ali: I agree with it.

[01:58:14] Alexander Amoroso: I support it and I worked with the 63rd Readiness Division's Environmental Quality Assurance Committee on developing the legislature with the state.

[01:58:25] Robert Cox: I'm supporting it.

[01:58:27] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Haven't made up my mind.

[01:58:28] James Kuszmaul: Unsure.

[01:58:30] Silja Paymer: I want to make sure we're not taking out the community input to streamline it.

[01:58:37] Erik Poicon: No.

[01:58:38] Idarose Sylvester: No, it's the wrong way to reform it.

[01:58:40] Moderator Peter Katz: Okay, I like a little mixture in here, this is good. All right, final question of the night. Are you ready? On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your risk aversion? And 10 means you are super cautious, you might not even leave the house. One, you just go for it. Okay, got it? So it's we're measuring risk aversion. One means you're not risk averse at all. 10 means you are super risk averse. Sam.

[01:59:19] Samuel Ali: Three.

[01:59:24] Alexander Amoroso: After serving overseas... about an eight.

[01:59:35] Robert Cox: Five.

[01:59:37] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Mmm, six or seven.

[01:59:40] James Kuszmaul: Seven.

[01:59:41] Silja Paymer: I bike with my kids on these streets, so it must be a two.

[01:59:44] Erik Poicon: Four.

[01:59:48] Idarose Sylvester: Three, but if it's a business idea, zero, I'll do any business try it out.

[01:59:54] Moderator Peter Katz: All right. Is that fun? Well, you all have been extremely patient with my questions, we wouldn't be having a forum if you didn't have the last say. And so I'm going to give everyone a minute to say summary comments, to speak to the public, both here and through the internet. Um, one minute. And I will start at the other end of the table and work our way back. So, Idarose.

[02:00:24] Idarose Sylvester: Thank you to the chamber and to everyone who's joined us tonight. You are showing that you care about our community's future and I really appreciate hearing from you. Mountain View has extraordinary strengths. We have innovative companies, great small businesses that anchor our neighborhoods, wonderful people and a community that cares very, very deeply about its future. Our challenge is to make sure that those strengths work for our future. We need an economy where businesses and residents can grow, stay, and thrive. Housing that allows a range of incomes and people of all ages to stay. An environment that works and sustains us for the long term. I bring experience across all of these worlds. As an entrepreneur, a non-profit leader, city commissioner, city mediator, a neighborhood leader, and a community advocate, I know how to bring people together, turn our ideas into action, and get big things done. It would be an honor to put that experience to work for Mountain View and for you on the city council. Thank you so much and please see me if you have any questions, I would love to continue the conversation.

[02:01:35] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Erik.

[02:01:36] Erik Poicon: Thank you to the chamber, the organizers, and everyone who took the time to spend their evening with us. Uh, you heard me talk about affordability, economic vitality, and making the city work better. For me, these aren't separate issues. A strong Mountain View means residents are able to afford and stay here, workers can build a life here, and businesses have the support they need to succeed. I've seen these challenges up close, from working the front lines at CSA during COVID, and now supporting our residents navigate services through the county libraries. I have worked with community leaders, labor, businesses, and elected officials, and I know the best solutions come from listening and working together. That's why, that's what I'll bring to the council. Accessibility, collaboration, and a focus on getting things done. Thank you, and I'd be glad to continue this conversation afterwards.

[02:02:30] Moderator Peter Katz: Wonderful. Silja.

[02:02:33] Silja Paymer: Um, so thank you again, also, so much for giving us this chance to share our stories, um, and I would love going forward to hear your stories. I do think one of the, um, things I've learned most about being in this campaign is how much I enjoy hearing everyone's individual story and how it braids together into how much we all love Mountain View. Um, when I talk about the things I want to improve, it's not because I don't love what is here, it's because I feel like we can always be working to do better. Um, and we do that together by supporting each other. Um, one of the things I'd really like to see the city do is, um, work to align our vision and make sure our staff, and all of our volunteers, and our business groups are working together. Because when we have a common goal, all of that effort that we put into it, um, gets multiplied. Um, and what I see is the amazing stuff that's going to come out, you know, with the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival. And I know that sometimes the city, I feel like sometimes takes credit for all our work. I mean, they also do very hard work. I'm not saying they don't have a lot to take credit for, but if we were working together to build each other up, I think we could do even more. So that's what I hope to see in our city.

[02:03:46] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. James.

[02:03:48] James Kuszmaul: Thank you, Peter. I've been, I was, I've been blessed to get what Mountain View has to offer in my life of growing up here and living here. And I've been proud to be able to give back to the city thus far. I got an amazing education at Mountain View High School, including getting mentored on the local robotics team there, and I was able to go back and mentor that as an adult and then mentor a local Girl Scouts robotics team. I've been able to go and give extensive feedback on the city's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. I've been able to go and advocate for more housing and better housing at the City Council, and to go organize Local No King's events to rally our neighbors. And now I want to go and give back to the city more substantially, giving more of my time and listening more to our residents so that I can make the change we need to make Mountain View a better Mountain View for all. Thank you.

[02:04:43] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Paul.

[02:04:45] Commissioner Paul Donahue: Now that we're closing this job interview, I want to point out that not only do I have experience bringing the city its first recreation plan or voting 100% in favor of affordable housing projects. I have experience reading through meeting packets that can be hundreds and hundreds of pages long, and I actually read them. You can ask any one of my colleagues. I love to dive into data and make thoughtful decisions. But I never forget that this isn't really just about data, it's about people. For my letters of reference, I'm endorsed by Senator Josh Becker, County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga. I'm endorsed by 11 former Mountain View mayors who have done this job and know that I can do it too. But it's not just people with titles. Drive around town and you'll see my signs across the city. Each of these people believes that I'm the right person to lead Mountain View going forward. When you're making your hiring decision, I would be honored if you would vote for Paul Donahue. I'm lucky number seven on the ballot. Thanks.

[02:05:49] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Okay. Robert, please.

[02:05:53] Robert Cox: All right, just a second here. Anyway, thanks everybody for coming here and listening to me as I talked to you about my community involvement and my vision for Mountain View's bright future. It's a future with strong neighborhoods, a vibrant downtown, more affordable housing, and a sustainable environment. I've been out in the community for the last 17 years getting things done. I'm the only council candidate who served on the city's Environmental Planning Commission and on the Rental Housing Committee. I've served on my neighborhood association board for 16 years. The work I've done here is just a start. On Council, I will do more. I'm endorsed by former state Senator Joe Simitian, County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, eight former Mountain View mayors, seven current and former school board trustees, and over 80, that's eight zero, Mountain View neighborhood and community leaders. I'm a good listener, but I'm also a man of action. I'm here to serve you full-time as a council member. I will be your advocate to fix the things that don't make sense. I'm Robert Cox, number two on the ballot, and respectfully request your vote. Go to robertcoxforcouncil.com to learn more.

[02:07:06] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Alex.

[02:07:08] Alexander Amoroso: So, a lot of what you heard about me this evening is my experience as a US Army officer. But I also am an experienced public administrator, educator, uh, community leader, and in general organizer. But I believe it was Theodore Roosevelt who said that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. So, I've also volunteered with local environmental groups like Friends of Stevens Creek. I am a proud ambassador in the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce. And I have also worked with a number of homelessness organizations to make sure that these folks are given dignity and the care that they deserve. So, what you will get from me is the leadership, and the care, and love for this community and country that I have been serving in for the last 10 years, as I look upon not just these great neighbors of mine but these great Americans. I hope to provide the same leadership that I have provided for 10 years for another 20 years. Thank you.

[02:08:09] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Sam.

[02:08:11] Samuel Ali: First and foremost, thank you all for coming out here, sacrificing maybe dinner right now, but thank you so much for coming out here. And those who are viewing online, thank you for tuning in. I believe you care about Mountain View just as much as all of us here. So I just want to simply state, Mountain View gave my family an opportunity. Uh, growing up here taught me what community means and what can happen when people are given a chance to succeed. Now I want to give back. I want Mountain View to be a city where an entrepreneur can open their first business, an existing business can grow, and an employee can afford to live near their job. Uh, and companies can continue to choose to invest here. I bring more than 15 years of operational experience and a willingness to listen and a commitment to getting things done. And whether you're running a business or raising a family, I want you to feel that the city hall is working for you and not against you. Um, I'm Sam Ali. I am Mountain View made. And I'm ready to work and be honored to earn your vote. Let's go Mountain View. Thank you.

[02:09:21] Moderator Peter Katz: Thank you. Well with that, ladies and gentlemen, the 2026 City Council candidates. I think that what we've seen is clearly there is passion and energy here, there is passion and energy there as well. This is an amazing city. It's going to be an amazing, uh, election. Please go and vote. And with that, I bid you a very good night.

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