Election Briefs Election Briefs (October 08, 2004)

Candidates debate on TV

Mountain View City Council candidates will participate in a live debate that will be aired on KMVT Channel 15 in Mountain View on Oct. 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Viewers can send questions to KMVT by e-mail to kmvtdebate@kmvt15.org or by phone at 968-1540.

Three-minute candidate statements will be aired from Oct. 18 through Election Day. KMVT will also provide live Election Day coverage on Nov. 2 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with host Seth Shostak.

The debate and Election Day coverage will be streamed live on the KMVT Web site at www.kmvt15.org. These programs and the candidate statements will also be available on the Internet after the events.

Peace group picks two

Mountain View Voices for Peace (MVVP) endorsed two candidates for city council Monday, throwing its support to Laura Macias and founding member Stephanie Schaaf.

MVVP member Lenny Siegel said the group endorsed only two candidates, although four seats are open, because it wanted to focus on its core issues, including municipal opposition to the U.S. Patriot Act. After holding a series of discussions with and about the candidates, MVVP identified challengers Macias and Schaaf as the strongest in terms of those issues, he said.

Both candidates have attended demonstrations with the group in the past.

Housing group leaves mayor out

The Advocates for Affordable Housing (AAH) endorsed four candidates for council out of five who responded to its questionnaire. Incumbent Nick Galiotto and challengers Margaret Abe-Koga, Laura Macias and Stephanie Schaaf all received endorsements for their position on low-income housing.

AAH's Roy Hayter said the Mountain View group chose not to endorse Mayor Matt Pear, who has criticized policies that require developers to provide below-market-rate housing units.

"He has some interesting ideas," said Hayter, "but it's not clear that his ideas would help those interested in helping."

Challenger Tom Means, an economics professor who supports a free-market approach, did not fill out the group's questionnaire.

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