Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei sets priorities for the year amid uncertainty

When Ellen Kamei took over the helm as Mountain View’s mayor in 2021, it was the height of the COVID pandemic and she spent much of the year in virtual meetings and working on recovery efforts.

Three years later, Kamei is mayor again, only this time around she can interact with community members in person and focus on some of the city’s long-term priorities.

“We’re still thinking about how we can support our residents and our businesses. And I would say it’s an uncertain time, but we’re not in the midst of a global pandemic, so it’s a little bit different,” Kamei said.

Now in her second term as Mayor, Kamei is eager to see some of her top priorities make it across the finish line, despite the possibility of federal funding cuts and a leaner city budget. “There’s a lot of unknowns and it’s about being as proactive as possible,” Kamei said.

One area that Kamei has been a strong advocate for is middle-income housing, an issue that she campaigned on in 2018. “I think a lot of people feel once their children go away for jobs or school, they’re not able to come back because of the level of affordability,” Kamei said.

The city has done a good job leveraging grants and subsidies and working with nonprofit developers to build low and very low-income housing, she said, but hasn’t scratched the surface for the middle income bracket.

Last month, the Urban Land Institute presented several scenarios for affordable housing on a 1.4-acre parcel of land in the North Bayshore. The Sobrato Organization, a real estate developer, dedicated the land to the city several years ago and Kamei expressed hope that it would be slated for affordable middle-income housing. It’s important to come up with creative solutions, she said.

Kamei also would like to see the Stevens Creek Trail extension develop at a more rapid clip. People have been waiting decades for it, Kamei said. The trail could also link up with Sunnyvale through Evelyn Avenue, as part of a Caltrain grade separation project, Kamei said. “If we keep deferring it, it will cost more,” she added, noting that it would be a multijurisdictional project.

Another high priority for Kamei is elevating the city’s race, equity and inclusion action plan to ensure Mountain View remains a “community for all.” The priority is a personal one for Kamei, as she is a third generation Mountain View resident whose grandparents were forced into an incarceration camp during WWII. Unlike many other displaced families, they returned to Mountain View at the end of the war.

“I think that’s really telling, because a lot of people who were incarcerated didn’t necessarily go back to the communities where they were from because they didn’t feel welcome, but Mountain View did for my family,” Kamei said.

There is a lot of uncertainty across the region now, Kamei said, referring to national policies that are targeting immigrant communities. But Mountain View is still a welcoming place that is listening to residents and soliciting feedback to make sure it is meeting their needs, she said.

Kamei pointed to several initiatives, like a “Know your Rights” clinic, multilingual resources and leadership academies that the city has held to help facilitate trust and community connections.

“We’re listening and we’re changing and we’re augmenting,” Kamei said.

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