{"id":449391,"date":"2026-09-01T00:52:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449391\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T00:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:52:57","slug":"mountain-view-city-council-candidates-square-off-at-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/449391\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain View City Council candidates square off at forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of the November election, the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce<\/a> held a recent forum to give voters an early look at the policy positions of eight candidates vying for a seat on the City Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The three candidates who win the most votes Nov. 3 will get the chance to weigh in on top issues for the community, like how to support small businesses, housing and economic vitality in the city.<\/p>\n

More than 50 people attended the Aug. 27 candidate forum<\/a> at the Mountain View Community Center. The candidates fielded about a dozen questions moderated by Peter Katz, CEO and president of the chamber of commerce.<\/p>\n

The eight contenders aligned on several issues, agreeing that it should be easier for small businesses<\/a> to open in Mountain View. They also expressed strong support for a ballot measure that seeks to increase the city\u2019s hotel tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, candidates diverged on some hot-button topics, such as adding more housing and office space in the downtown area. Their responses provide a glimpse of how each would shape the direction of the city if elected to the council.<\/p>\n

\"\"A car drives on Castro Street in Mountain View on Sept. 19, 2025. Photo by Seeger Gray.<\/p>\n

Small businesses and economic vitality<\/p>\n

Candidates expressed a strong desire to see more economic growth in the city, suggesting different ideas that could make Mountain View more welcoming to small businesses. Nearly all said the city\u2019s permitting process could be more transparent and streamlined for applicants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be better about getting out of business\u2019s way, making things easier and faster for them to succeed,\u201d IdaRose Sylvester<\/a>, an entrepreneur and local activist, said.<\/p>\n

Erik Poicon<\/a>, a community advocate, suggested the city strengthen pre-lease assistance for applicants while also tracking retention and business closure rates more closely.<\/p>\n

Silja Paymer<\/a>, a Los Altos High School teacher, said that allowing for more \u201cmixed-use\u201d zoning in different parts of the city could benefit small businesses. Both Paymer and Poicon also said they would support a storefront vacancy tax<\/a> for properties that sit empty for a long period of time.<\/p>\n

Samuel Ali<\/a>, a Google security specialist, emphasized the importance of the city partnering with businesses while also promoting them through the use of social media.<\/p>\n

Alexander Amorso<\/a>, a U.S. Army officer, identified employee turnover as a big issue and one that could be mitigated with more support for local businesses, including workforce housing.<\/p>\n

\"\"A historic building housing the Eureka! restaurant on Castro Street in Mountain View on Oct. 1, 2025. Photo by Seeger Gray.<\/p>\n

Housing development<\/p>\n

In opening statements, candidates expressed a desire to see more housing in Mountain View. However, they had mixed reactions when answering a question about where new homes should be built.<\/p>\n

Last month, Senate Bill 79<\/a>, a state law meant to increase housing density near major transit stops, went into effect. In Mountain View, the law applies<\/a> to Caltrain and VTA light rail stations, including the downtown transit center.<\/p>\n

James Kuszmaul<\/a>, a software engineer and member of local housing advocacy group Mountain View YIMBY, expressed strong support for SB 79. More people should have access to housing near public transit, Kuszmaul said.<\/p>\n

Similar to others, Kuszmaul also stressed the importance of the city continuing work on developing \u201cobjective design standards\u201d for new residential projects. That will help set clear expectations on what the city wants to see from developers, he said.<\/p>\n

Robert Cox<\/a>, a retired Intel engineer and member of Livable Mountain View, a historical preservation advocacy group, expressed concern<\/a> that SB 79 was \u201cone size fits all\u201d and could negatively impact the downtown area, which has a concentration of historic properties<\/a> on the first three blocks of Castro Street, near the transit center.<\/p>\n

Cox said he supports the idea of Mountain View coming up with a \u201clocal alternative plan\u201d that could preserve the downtown area and shift more housing to other parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Paul Donahue<\/a>, a microprocessor engineer, also said SB 79 was \u201cnot really right for the conditions on the ground in Mountain View.\u201d He said he supported the possibility of a local alternative plan that could shift housing \u201caround to places that are appropriate in (the) community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other candidates who backed the possibility of a local alternative plan included Sylvester and Paymer. Sylvester noted that local businesses are part of the historic core of the downtown area and should be preserved.<\/p>\n

Kuszmaul said he was not in favor of an alternative plan, expressing concern that it would divert staff time and resources from other city projects and might not produce better outcomes than SB 79.<\/p>\n

\"\"A parking lot at Google Crittenden Campus in the North Bayshore in Mountain View on March 12, 2020. Photo by Magali Gauthier.<\/p>\n

Office development<\/p>\n

Candidates also had different perspectives about whether more office space should be built in the downtown area. Ali, Amoroso and Poicon said they would support more development. Kuszmaul said \u201ca bit\u201d and Sylvester said \u201cyes\u201d depending on the type of project. Cox, Donahue and Paymer said \u201cnot right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several candidates\u2019 answers changed when they were asked about whether they would like to see large-scale office development in the North Bayshore. The area is slated for major housing and office growth<\/a> over the next 30 years, as part of a Google-led project. The status of Google\u2019s plans<\/a> however are unclear, as the tech behemoth has recently pulled back on other big projects in Mountain View.<\/p>\n

Ali, Cox and Poicon said \u201cyes\u201d to the question while Paymer said it depended on what else the developer was offering. Kuszmaul said \u201ca bit\u201d and Sylvester said \u201cyes, with complete communities.\u201d Amorso replied \u201cno\u201d while Donahue said \u201cmaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

To watch a recording of the candidate forum, visit the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice<\/a>. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ahead of the November election, the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce held a recent forum to give voters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[712,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-449391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-centerpiece","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}