In another one of Mountain View’s notoriously tight council races, third-place winner Jac Siegel eeked out a victory by only a few dozen votes on Tuesday, even as the top two vote-getters, Margaret Abe-Koga and Ronit Bryant, won by wide margins.
Abe-Koga was the clear leader of the pack, garnering 21.6 of the vote, with Bryant trailing with 15.7 percent. The vote makes Abe-Koga the first Asian American woman ever to serve on Mountain View’s city council.
Meanwhile, the race was a close one for Siegel, who scraped by in third place, beating candidate John Inks by about 130 votes. Although a small number of provisional ballots were still being counted as the Voice went to press Wednesday, Inks had all but conceded the race.
“Sometimes you just have to congratulate the victors,” he said. “They did a heck of a job.”
Siegel said Wednesday that he was fairly certain he had won, but would feel better when the rest of the results came in.
“As close as it is, I hate to declare victory,” he said. “I think you will see a significant change in the council if the three of us get in, somewhat slowing down the growth of the city.”
The newly elected council members, who take office Jan. 9, could indeed steer the council towards slower growth in Mountain View. Bryant, for example, said during her campaign that “development should not be driven by numbers,” and Siegel declared that “we cannot solve a regional housing problem in Mountain View, nor should we try.”
The new members replace Mike Kasperzak, who is termed out, and Greg Perry, who decided not to seek reelection. Matt Neely left his seat open in July to become the principal of a school in Rome.
Council member Laura Macias said the new members could be a much-needed antidote to the development advocated by the previous council. The council will oversee development of many of the 3,000 housing units proposed in Mountain View, holding the power to reject or accept aspects of each development, including size and density.
Residents exiting the polling booths cited various reasons for why they voted for certain council candidates, including experience and where they lived.
“He’s in our neighborhood,” said Jeanne Tweed about her vote for Jac Siegel, who lives near Cuesta Park.
As they inched towards the polling booth, one family of three voters consulted via cell phone with another family member about how they should vote. “Inks?” they said. “Aha.”
“Ronit is definitely the most qualified,” said Abigail Longcor as she left the polling place at St. Timothy’s church at Cuesta Drive and Grant Road. She said she voted for Bryant, Alicia Crank and Tian Harter. “Alicia really wants to work hard,” she said. “Tian has a lot of time to investigate things and he’s got eight years being an activist.”
Resident Erik Davenport, a Republican, said he voted for John Inks, Kalwant Sandhu and Siegel because they “seem to be the most conservative-thinking.”
RESULTS (as of Wednesday, Nov. 8):
Margaret Abe-Koga ………. 8,129 votes, 21.56%
Ronit Bryant ………. 5,935 votes, 15.74%
Jac Siegel ………. 5,471 votes, 14.51%
John Inks ………. 5,342 votes, 14.17%
Alicia Crank ………. 3,544 votes, 9.4%
Tian Harter ………. 3,467 votes, 9.2%
Kal Sandhu ………. 3,242 votes, 8.6%
John H. Webster ………. 2,572 votes, 6.82%
E-mail Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com
