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For the past several years, Mountain View has hired lobbyists to stay on top of key legislation and to promote its interests in Sacramento. Now the city is planning to do more legislative advocacy at the federal level, just as the Trump administration has proposed big changes to federal policies and funding priorities.
“As many of you are aware, we have a lot going on in Washington at the moment,” said John O’Donnell, a consultant at MMO Partners, who presented the work of the lobbying firm to the City Council at a study session on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Working with MMO Partners, Mountain View has developed a federal legislative platform that focuses on housing, community health and transit as well as climate resiliency measures. The idea is to tee up priority areas for the city and to have lobbyists advocate on its behalf to potentially influence bills as they come through the pipeline.
But it’s unclear if these kinds of legislative priorities would receive support under the Trump administration – a concern shared by elected officials who spoke at the Feb. 11 meeting.
“Our legislators are trying to do the best that we can to preserve California values and priorities in the face of whatever is to come at us from Washington, D.C.,” said state Sen. Josh Becker.
This includes setting aside money for lawsuits to potentially recoup billions of dollars for the state, something that happened during the previous Trump administration, Becker said.
The uncertainties of the Trump administration and potential impact of federal funding freezes set the tone for the study session. But council members did not step back from focusing on issues that could make a meaningful difference in the lives of Mountain View residents.
Overall, the council expressed support for the city’s legislative platform. Not much has changed from last year’s priorities, particularly at the regional and state level, although the city has added three new policy statements, modified four and deleted one.
At the meeting, Council members suggested a few tweaks to the legislative platform, aligning on issues like improving the builder’s remedy process, fixing a bill to reintroduce all-electric reach codes and lobbying for train horn quiet zones.
Council member Alison Hicks described the existing builder’s remedy process as a kind of cash cow for developers that, in some cases, does not meet the housing needs of the city.
Council members also supported putting in language to require cities to discuss their homelessness response strategies in upcoming housing elements and fixing a contractor licensing requirement for public art installations.
At a slimmer majority, Council members supported language clarifying the city’s stance on anti-displacement legislation strategies and providing more transparency with regional board appointments.
But there were some suggestions that did not garner majority support, like campaign disclosure requirements for independent expenditures.
Council member Chris Clark encouraged the council to focus lobbying efforts on policies that would directly impact the city and not cause more red tape. “I probably won’t support spending lobbying dollars and time and energy on campaign finance that frankly doesn’t directly impact the city or our ability to implement our own campaign finance rules,” Clark said.
Council members also grappled with a public request to “not obey in advance,” and to back legislation that protects the community from the Trump administration.
“The legislative platform should have elements supporting legislation that stops or counteracts the foreseeable attacks in our community and others. It should be flexible to take opportunities to push back,” said Mountain View resident John Scarboro. “Please support legislation that protects our freedom, protects rule of law, protects the environment and improves community resilience,” he said.
Council member Lucas Ramirez agreed with the public comment, but noted that it was a daunting task. “There’s only so much we can do at the municipal level,” he said.
This is a waste of money. Let Palo Alto do the lobbying. Or split the costs with them. It’s ridiculous that our 80k person city spends money when even Los Altos Hills doesn’t spend money this way. And they are flush!
We need DOGE for Mountain View.