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■ EDITORIAL ■ YOUR LETTERS ■ GUEST OPINIONS
N EDITORIAL THE OPINION OF THE VOICE Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
N S TA F F Editor & Publisher Tom Gibboney
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Advertising Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis Advertising Representatives Adam Carter Real Estate Account Executive Rosemary Lewkowitz Real Estate Advertising Coordinator Samantha Mejia Published every Friday at 450 Cambridge Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Email news and photos to: editor@MV-Voice.com Email letters to: letters@MV-Voice.com News/Editorial Department (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Display Advertising Sales (650) 964-6300 Classified Advertising Sales s fax (650) 326-0155 Email Classified ads@MV-Voice.com Email Circulation circulation@MV-Voice.com The Voice is published weekly by Embarcadero Media Co. and distributed free to residences and businesses in Mountain View. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 964-6300. Subscriptions for $60 per year, $100 per 2 years are welcome.
Voice endorsements in local races
Four seats up on City Council
Change coming to MV Whisman board
Incumbents Kasperzak, Inks lead field of five candidates As the city wraps up a year busy year — a new General Plan adopted, construction underway on San Antonio Shopping Center and the Mayfield Mall ready for a $90 million makeover for high tech offices — there are nagging issues that will occupy much of the council’s time over the next four years. Among them will be finding a way to unravel North Bayshore’s traffic gridlock, making city streets safer for bikes and pedestrians, which could mean reducing car lanes, and whether to continue sharing Shoreline tax revenue with local schools. Another sticky issue will be whether to impose a higher BMR housing fee on developers of what will likely be a huge number of office projects. With the departure of Tom Means and Laura Macias, who are termed out, the council is certain to see at least two newcomers take office in December. We support returning the two incumbents, Mike Kasperzak and John Inks, to the council and recommend newcomers John McAllister and Chris Clark for the remaining two seats. The incumbents are running for reelection to complete their second and last consecutive term. Kasperzak is actually running for his fourth term. He stepped down for several years after his first two terms and then ran again in 2008. Members of the Voice editorial staff conducted interviews with all candidates (except Jim Neal, who answered questions via email) last week. Here are our endorsements.
Darrah, Lambert, Pollart stand out in qualified field or the first time since 2004, residents of the Mountain View Whisman school district will see a competitive race for three seats on the five-member board — a majority. With the retirement of Fiona Walter, Steve Olson and Ed Bailey, three seats will be held by newcomers. They will face significant challenges, such as making up for fading state support for education and deciding how to get the most out of the district’s ambitious $198 million bond issue to upgrade campuses and buildings, which was approved by voters in June. In this race, out of the five candidates, the Voice endorses Peter Darrah, Bill Lambert and Jim Pollart, all of whom will bring a wide range of new skills to the board.
N WHAT’S YOUR VIEW? All views must include a home address and contact phone number. Published letters will also appear on the web site, www.MountainViewOnline.com, and occasionally on the Town Square forum.
TOWN SQUARE FORUM Post your views on the Town Square forum at www.MountainViewOnline.com EMAIL your views to letters@MV-Voice.com. Indicate if it is a letter to be published. MAIL to: Editor Mountain View Voice, P.O. Box 405 Mountain View, CA 94042-0405 CALL the Viewpoint desk at 223-6507
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Peter Darrah a longtime district volunteer The Voice endorses Peter Darrah for one of the three open seats on the board. As a fluent Spanishspeaker, involved parent and computer engineer, Darrah has a lot to offer and in addition, his spouse is a kindergarten teacher at Landels, which will give him an “on the ground” perspective of how the district is operating. Darrah’s language skills will help him support the district’s effort to involve more parents and the community at Castro School, which is a good step toward improving academic performance of all Hispanic students. We also like his commitment to help the district seek financial support from the local business community, similar to what Google is providing now. We urge district residents to support Peter Darrah for Mountain View Whisman School Board.
VOTER GUIDE
Mike Kasperzak, an inspired legislator who knows the job Mike Kasperzak, the current mayor, lives and breathes Mountain View. As he moves into his 13th year on the council, it is no surprise that he is up to speed on virtually every issue, from the budget to transportation policy. But he is well aware that by 2015, he and John Inks, if they are reelected, could be the only council members with more than four years experience. It is important that the city, which also has a relatively new manager, has a council that knows the issues. Kasperzak definitely
Bill Lambert brings wide experience With an impressive academic resume of his own (BA in biochemistry at Berkeley, Ph.D in chemical physics at Caltech and a JD at the
See CITY COUNCIL, next page
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See WHISMAN BOARD, next page
N LETTERS VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
SUPPORT CANDIDATES WHO BACK HOUSING FEE Residents who are concerned that working people in Mountain View often can’t find housing here should consider the positions of City Council candidates on “affordable housing.” The city’s numerous policies and initiatives have made a small dent in our local housing crisis. Two candidates (Mike Kasperzak and Chris Clark), drawing on their council and planning commission experience, strongly support these initiatives and others. In response to an Advocates for Affordable Housing questionnaire sent to all candidates, they
■ Mountain View Voice ■ MountainViewOnline.com ■ October 12, 2012
suggest further steps that they would work on to get us additional affordable units. For example, higher rental development impact fees to add incentives to actually building affordable units, supplemented by higher commercial impact fees, have succeeded in other communities. The AAH endorses Mike Kasperzak and Chris Clark. Candidate Margaret Capriles also recognizes the drastic impacts on all of us that the lack of affordable housing (for those with lower incomes) has on our entire community, such as additional traffic congestion and more air pollution. Joan MacDonald Advocates for Affordable Housing
VOTE AGAINST WATER DISTRICT TAX EXTENSION Measure B is a parcel tax extension proposed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District that is expected to yield $548 million over its 15-year duration. The district has a reputation for misusing money. The current members of the district’s board of directors did not improve the district’s reputation when they voted last November to add fluoride to the water when money is available. Sure, other local legislative bodies have made the same mistake, but anyone who even reads the label on fluoridated toothpaste
can see a warning against ingestion. Fluoride is not a nutrient; it is a poison. I’ll vote against Measure B. Gary Wesley Continental Circle
FUNDING NEEDED FOR WATER DISTRICT State and federal funding for ensuring a safe and clean water supply for Santa Clara County has been diminishing and is unreliable. In 2000, the voters responded and approved a local funding initiative that has been critical to helping meet See LETTERS, page 19