November 9, 2018
It’s always disappointing to lose an election. And it’s particularly disappointing when one expects to win. I’m going to miss being on the City Council, with all the opportunities it has given me to meet with constituents, employers, property owners and developers, and leaders from other cities..
I appreciate the outpouring of messages of support and consolation, only a fraction of which were sent to this list.
Yesterday I did a newspaper interview about the election that gave me a heart-warming realization. The Mercury-News asked me if my defeat would undermine Mountain View’s drive to build more housing. I responded that all the candidates had campaigned in support of residential construction. See https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/09/forget-the-blue-wave-bay-area-rides-the-housing-wave-following-midterm-elections. Despite Tuesday’s results, my allies and I have already won on the issues that motivated our candidacies.
I ran for office in 2014 because I felt strongly about several issues. I wanted to plan for new medium-density complete neighborhoods, especially in North Bayshore. I wanted to introduce innovative transit. I wanted to tax big employers. We are doing these things, and much more
But during the campaign I identified three issues where the outcome of the election might make a significant difference, and I’m planning to organize around these challenges after I leave the Council.
- North Bayshore. Many obstacles remain to fulfillment of the revised North Bayshore Plan—the actual construction of nearly 10,000 housing units. There is a chance that the Council could impose conditions that undermine that goal. Supporters of the plan need to remain vigilant, showing up at Council meetings to ensure that the job gets done.
- Rent Control. Despite the apparent election of two Measure V supporters to the council, I fear that the Council majority will again appoint Rental Housing Committee (RHC) members who will seek to undermine the Charter Amendment. Second, mobile home owners remain unprotected from predatory, equity-stealing space rental increases. And third, the landlords’ Sneaky Repeal measure is likely to appear on the ballot in 2020. (The signatures are still being counted.) I will work to revitalize the Tenants’ Coalition to address these issues at the RHC and Council, to oppose the Sneaky Repeal and perhaps, working with the Mobile Home Alliance, to place another initiative on the ballot.
- Vehicle-Dwellers. Hundreds of households in Mountain View are living in both cars and oversized vehicles because they cannot otherwise afford to live here. Almost everyone agrees that this is a problem that needs a solution, and the City is actually doing a great deal already, but I fear that the new Council will listen to intolerant voices and take drastic actions, taking away folks’ last opportunity to stay in the community. We must help vehicle-dwellers tell their story and organize with them to solve, rather than move the problem.
I don’t yet know what form all this organizing will take, but I know it will require hard work, persistence, and the creation of coalitions.
This isn’t just about me. I have no idea whether I will run for Council in 2020. However, I promise you: I am not going away. The future of our city lies in the balance.
Lenny Siegel – Still the Mayor