Margaret Abe-Koga currently serves as Mayor for the City of Mountain View.  She is serving her third term on the Mountain View City Council, having served two terms from 2007-2015, and reelected in 2016. She served as Vice-Mayor in 2008 and 2019, and as Mayor for the first time in 2009, making her the first Asian American female to serve in those capacities in Mountain View's history. 

On the City Council, Margaret has championed the issues of public safety, transportation, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, youth and families and health and wellness. 

Margaret represents Mountain View on regional bodies including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District; the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board and is past Chair; the Valley Transportation Authority(VTA) Policy Advisory Committee; and on the Santa Clara County Cities Association Executive Committee.  Her past service included serving as President and Vice President of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County; the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Agency, the Santa Clara County Emergency Operational Area Council, and on the Santa Clara County Local Agency Formation Commission.

She also served on the VTA Board of Directors and Chaired the Board in 2011. Margaret led the agency to financial solvency through the economic downturn and worked to maintain progress on capital projects like the BART extension, light rail improvements and the Bus Rapid Transit system.  She also served on the VTA’s Policy Advisory Committee and the Levi’s Stadium Transit Program Task Force.

In 2012, Margaret was appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board overseeing water quality issues in the Bay Area.

Prior to her service on the City Council, Margaret served as Trustee for Area 1 on Santa Clara County Board of Education and served as Board Vice-President in 2004. She also served as Human Relations Commissioner and Environmental Planning Commissioner for the City of Mountain View.

In addition to elected and appointed service, Margaret has been active in the community..  She has served on the boards of  CHAC – Community Health Awareness Council, Charities Housing – a non-profit affordable housing developer, Mountain View Public Safety Foundatin, the League of Conservation Voters, Carbon Free Mountain View, the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley, Avenidas Senior Services, the Mountain View Sister Cities Association, the Silicon Valley Japanese American Chamber of Commerce, the Japanese American Citizens League San Mateo Chapter, Vice-Chair of the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association and President of the San Jose Taiko Board.

Margaret was born at Stanford Hospital and raised in San Mateo by immigrant parents from Japan. She attended public schools K-12, and went on to Harvard University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in government in 1992.

 After graduation, Margaret joined Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s district office staff. 

In addition to her public service career, Margaret’s work experience includes serving as Associate Director of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) at De Anza College from 1999-2001 and 2005-2006.  Margaret also owned and ran a small business– an indoor cycling fitness facility – before taking leave from the business to raise her children.  From 2012-2014, She held the position of Foundation and Corporate Relations Manager for Asian Americans for Community Involvement, the largest non-profit health and human services agency focused on the Asian community.  In 2015, she was District Director for California State Assemblymember Evan Low of the 28^th District, and from 2016-2017 worked for Synopsys Corporation as a government affairs manager.

She and her husband Yotto have two daughters, Aili and Aina who attend Mountain View High School. 

For her leadership, Margaret has been recognized with various awards including:

·      Working Partnerships USA Champion for Change 2014

·      South Bay Labor Council AFL-CIO Rookie of the Year Award 2011

·      Silicon Valley Business Journal's Top 100 Women of Influence, 2010

·      Mountain View Chamber of Commerce Athena Award, 2010

·      Association of American University Women Los Altos Mountain View Chapter's Woman of the Year 2009

·      California Assembly's Woman of the Year for Assembly District 22, selected by Assemblymember Paul Fong, 2009

·      Silicon Valley Business Journal's Top 40 under 40 years of age, 2008

·      Asian Americans for Community Involvement Youth Achievement Award 2004

·      Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss' Asian American Hero Award, 2001

Margaret is also a member of the American Leadership Forum Class XXII, an Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI) Senior Fellow, and a graduate of the Working Partnerships Leadership Institute as well as Leadership Mountain View.

For her hobbies, she teaches indoor cycling classes and enjoys running and biking.  She also holds a third degree in Kendo, the martial art of Japanese fencing.

Pat served on Mountain View's City Council from 2015 to 2019 serving as Vice Mayor in her first year and Mayor in her second.  She guided the City through the council priorities of housing, transportation and sustainability. Pat was active in regional issues through the Santa Clara County Cities Association, serving on the Bay Conservation & Development Commission as well as the Recycling & Waste Reduction Commission

Pat Showalter, has dedicated both her career and her public service to protecting and advocating for the environment of the Bay Area. Professionally, Pat is a licensed civil engineer who started her career as a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, served as director for the non-profit San Francisco Creek Watershed Council, and retired after 15 years with the Santa Clara Valley Water District. She specialized in multi-agency projects like the Valley Habitat Plan and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration. She was also active in her union IFPTE Local 21.

Beginning in 1994, she dedicated her spare time to Mountain View’s Environmental Planning Commission, where she served nine years and maintained an active role in local leadership.  Pat learned that protecting the Bay Area's environment and providing adequate housing are inextricably linked.

Showalter holds a Master’s in Civil Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and a Bachelor’s in Geology & History from Mount Holyoke College. She served for many years on the Boards of the Los Altos - Mountain View League of Women Voters and the Santa Clara League of Conservation Voters. Pat may be spotted biking with her husband along the Stevens Creek Trail or hiking in one of the many Bay Area parks that she works so hard to protect.

Pat and her husband Steve are so grateful that their children live nearby, so they can visit often.  She also appreciates the support each member of her family is giving her to be elected to City Council.

Political Philosophy: An essay describing the candidate's political philosophy. Limit: 1,000 words.

 Early in my career I came to the conclusion that most political decisions had an environmental component. Better decisions were made when people like myself with environmental knowledge were included in the political decision-making process.  That concept is what led me to get involved in local politics.

 When I served on the Mountain View Environmental Planning Commission, it became evident to me that you could not be an environmentalist in the Bay Area unless you were also a housing advocate.  Consequently, I've been advocating for more housing, particularly affordable housing for the last 25 years. We need to build more housing so people don't have to drive so far to their homes and so we can protect more open space.

  I believe that Democracy is NOT a spectator sport.  It's important to be active and involved. In our family, voting is not voluntary, it's your civic duty. 

I believe that the best decisions are made when differing perspectives are shared and understood.  It's always important to understand what is behind different perspectives. Cultural experiences, professional knowledge or life experiences can all produce valid and divergent opinions.  Over the course of my experience, the sweet spot is discovering the values and interests that are shared.  These lead to productive action. 

Civility is crucial.  On the one hand, people should be treated with respect because it's the right thing to do.  On the other hand, treating people civilly is effective because it encourages participation and leads to better outcomes.  For example as Mayor, I tried to welcome every person who spoke to Council by name to show respect and give them a genuine welcome.

 I believe in Science.  As an environmental engineer, I have worked to apply the best science available for restoring San Francisco Bay and protecting our region.  The importance of asking the right questions can not be over-estimated. Working with integrity and curiosity is paramount.  I know that as more information becomes available, what is the best science may change.  Locally, we have access to very high caliber scientists and it is important to include them in the political process taking advantage of their knowledge and insight.  As we go through the pandemic, it is vital that we rely on good science to keep everyone as safe as possible.

 I believe in protecting the environment.  As a civil engineer who specializes in water resources management, my professional life focused on protecting the environment. Currently, I apply the policy knowledge developed over my career by serving on the San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission and the board of Carbon Free Mountain View.

 I believe that shelter, adequate food and healthcare are human rights.  It's our collective responsibility to take care of our families, our fellow human beings.   I believe that kindness, humor and a walk thru a tree-lined park can do wonders.

I am a proud Mountain View resident with a longtime track record of creating change within our high-growth tech economy, community organizations, and electoral process. 

As a Sr. Cybersecurity Advisor in Mountain View, I've acquired strategic business leadership skills to help improve information security governance and policies for complex businesses in the Fortune 500. Over the same timeframe, I have equally dedicated myself to building deep relationships with many community organizations in Mountain View to advance protections for our low and middle income residents and assure the long term sustainability of our city.

My experience serving as Co-Lead for the two largest electoral victories in Mountain View over the last decade have resulted in the successful defense of affordable housing protections against Measure D this last March and approval of our city's business tax in 2018. These outcomes will help our working families maintain stable housing while also sustaining our capital infrastructure for years to come. 

Additionally, the deep relationships I have cultivated over years with community organizations  in Mountain View have enabled me to lead successful actions against our most critical issues such as the displacement of our longtime residents, housing affordability and civil privacy concerns. Taking on this policy work and relationship building has provided me with a strong grasp of our city's legislative process and service operations.

With these resources available to me and a worsening economic reality for many of our residents due to our ongoing housing crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that now is the right time for me to offer the skills and knowledge I have acquired to Mountain View's residents as your elected  City Councilmember as we take on the long road to recovery.

Leadership:

Elected Delegate, CA State Assembly District 24

Fmr. Political Director, Peninsula Young Democrats

Alt. Delegate, Santa Clara County Democratic Party Central Committee

Community Emergency Response Team, Shoreline West

Community Liaison Officer, Shoreline West Association of Neighbors

Co-Lead, YES on Measure P Campaign (Mountain View Business Tax)

Co-Lead, NO on Measure D Campaign (Protecting Rental Housing Affordability)

Coalition Member, Raise the Wage Campaign

Valedictorian, Mountain View Spanish Leadership Academy

Mountain View YIMBY

Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning

Mountain View Housing Justice Coalition

Mountain View Tenants Coalition

I'm running for City Council because many of Mountain View's working families, vulnerable populations, and low/middle income residents have been losing their economic opportunities and livelihoods to our ongoing housing crisis and are even more impacted now under COVID-19. I have dedicated many years in our community to understanding the needs of such residents and have extensively partnered with our many established local community groups to progressively address these issues.

I am motivated as a millennial seeking to start a family, buy a home, and attain economic stability but having to contend with several seemingly intractable issues with our environment, social order, and economic system that can derail my future before it arrives. I know that many more of my peers share similar experiences, and I believe now more than ever we need people in elected office who's futures are on the front lines of our multiple crises.

This is why I am truly honored to ask for your vote this November to serve as your next elected representative on our Mountain View City Council.

As your Mountain View City Councilmember I will dedicate myself to seeking out the deepest needs of our community and solving our mutual challenges.

Lenny Siegel served as Mayor of Mountain View from January 9, 2018 through January 8, 2019.

Siegel has resided in Mountain View since June 1972, owning his home in Old Mountain View since August, 1979.

He was married to Jan Rivers in June 1976; his daughter Misha Siegel-Rivers is 38; and his son Abram Siegel-Rivers is 33.

He served on the Mountain View Planning Commission from 1978-1980, and he was elected to the City Council in November, 2014, taking office in January, 2015.

He has been President of the non-profit Pacific Studies Center since 1970, and he has served as Executive Director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight, a PSC project since 2006, since 1994. See www.cpeo.org for a compilation of Siegel’s environmental work, including the oversight of the cleanup of toxic groundwater in Mountain View and at Moffett Field. EPA named him national “Superfund Citizen of the Year” in 2011. His many publications include The High Cost of High Tech: The Dark Side of the Chip (Harper & Row, 1985), co-authored with John Markoff.

Siegel founded several local non-governmental organizations, including the Campaign for a Balanced Mountain View, Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice, Mountain View Housing Justice Coalition, Alliance for a New Moffett Field, and the Save Hangar One Committee. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

He was an undergraduate in Physics at Stanford University from 1966 to 1969. At Stanford he was a leading member of numerous activist groups, including the Students for a Democratic Society, the Stanford Anti-Draft Union, and the April Third Movement.

Born on December 7, 1948, Siegel grew up in Culver City, California. He was a valedictorian at Culver City High School in 1966.

Some people seem happy with the gentrification of Mountain View. I’m not. I am running for Council again to preserve our socioeconomic and cultural diversity, as well as to preserve the quality of life in our diverse neighborhoods. I have spent much of my time and energy since I left the Council at the beginning of 2019 organizing for housing justice. I spearheaded the petition against the motorhome ban and played a key role in the campaign to defeat Measure D. I believe I can be even more effective as a voting Council member.

While I served on Council, my allies and I moved Mountain View to the forefront of the regional response to the Bay Area housing crisis. We made plans to build mixed-use, medium-density neighborhoods on commercial property, preserving existing neighborhoods as well as naturally affordable housing. These new neighborhoods will include thousands of both market-rate and below-market homes, jobs, retail, parks, and schools. The Council needs to work harder to make those plans a reality.

While my efforts to build housing and protect tenants, mobile home residents, and vehicle residents have been most visible, I did a lot more when I was on the Council:

• Proposed and won passage of Measure P (2018), a graduated tax on employers 
• Promoted non-peak service on CalTrain 
• Revived hopes for a school and park in the San Antonio area
• Built support for car-free zones downtown 
• Successfully proposed linkage of office development to housing development—that is, limiting office construction if not accompanied by housing development 
• Identified suitable sites for affordable housing projects
• Initiated plans for a high-speed transit link between downtown Mountain View and North Bayshore
• Supported electrification of local energy and the shift to clean electricity. 
• Promoted cleanup of underground toxics on property slated for development 
• Accelerated the re-opening of the Stevens Creek Trail after the washout 
• Worked to Save Cooper Park
• Worked to Save the Sierra Avenue Redwoods
• Defended weekly garbage pickup
• Opposed bus-only lanes on El Camino Real
• Approved policies for regulated, monitored, and taxed cannabis sales, since undermined by the current Council