Sally Lieber seeks a return to local politics in bid to represent District 5

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Occupation: California State Board of Equalization member

Age: 63

City of residence: Mountain View

Top priorities: Housing, environmental sustainability and mental health services

Sally Lieber is no stranger to public office, having served as a former state Assembly member and Mountain View City Council member. She currently serves as a member of the California State Board of Equalization, and holds a seat on the California Franchise Tax Board.

Lieber is looking to join the Board of Supervisors in a role that she says is close to what she already has a lot of experience doing – implementing state laws and overseeing budgets to deliver critical services.

“I felt like I had a responsibility to answer the call coming from the community,” Lieber said, explaining her reason for entering the District 5 race. “It’s a step down in rank but it’s a step up in terms of really meaningful work.”

Lieber says she is well-positioned to advance this work, starting with some of the region’s most pressing issues – its need for affordable housing. Taking a “laddered” approach, Lieber says the county needs more shelter spaces for its unhoused population. It also needs more compact studio apartments for workers, a housing option that could support fixed-income residents and those in vulnerable circumstances, like seniors and domestic abuse survivors.

Lieber wants to help people where they are and supports expanding safe parking sites. According to Lieber, the commercial RV parks in the 1980s and 1990s were clean, safe and affordable places for people to live but have disappeared because of gentrification. More public-private partnerships could help revive this entry-level housing option, she said.

To build more housing, Lieber says it’s imperative to get another affordable housing bond on the ballot, similar to Measure A, the $950 million affordable housing measure that voters passed in 2016. The BAFHA $20 billion regional bond was too big for voters, she said, noting that it would be better to start locally and then advocate for more at the state level.

In respect to the budget, Lieber wants to stabilize the county’s finances and make it more effective at service delivery. She says it’s important to pump the brakes on some of the county’s spending. “What I learned in budgeting at the state level, having gone through a giant budget downfall, is to save the money on the ‘nice to haves’ and then spend those dollars in an intentional way where there’s really a community benefit,” she said.

The county also needs to be better prepared for emergency events, like global health crises or even something closer to home, like earthquakes. “I’m very focused on ‘how are you going to protect people when a bad thing happens?’” she said.

Lieber, who has served on the county’s Social Services Commission, wants to see more resources in place for some of the region’s most vulnerable residents – its children. Lieber has ideas for how to strengthen the county’s family and children services and put in new programs, like a crisis nursery, a place where parents can bring in infants during family emergencies.

Lieber has identified mental health services as another high priority and expressed concern about state cuts to programs. It’s important to be nimble in these circumstances, Lieber said, adding that she is looking for stronger commitments from private hospitals to pick up the slack.

In respect to the environment, Lieber has been a big advocate of protecting natural resources and opposes development in the Bay wetlands and Stanford foothills. Preserving these areas will help the county adapt to climate change, she said. She also supports turning the Lehigh Quarry into a conservation area.

With transit, Lieber says the planned light rail extensions are good enhancements, but it’s a high-cost system, and the county should prioritize other forms of public transit like its bus routes. Lieber supports putting in dedicated bus lanes to help traffic congestion, she said. She says the South Bay has a strong activist community, and the county could look to it for input on how to increase ridership on its public transit systems.

Lieber also has a strong policy stance on the county’s criminal justice system. She does not agree with regrowing the state’s prison system, which is a huge financial drain, she said. But she supports strengthening multi-jurisdictional prosecutions in retail crimes, as a lot more theft is occurring across counties, she said.

Lieber supports more oversight of the county’s jails, especially in light of the corruption charges that were leveled against the former sheriff in recent years. “I would like to see the board really using their power that comes through their role in budgeting to ask for even more accountability,” Lieber said.

The county also has not fully grappled with the Black Lives Movement and its calls for police reform, Lieber said. More needs to be done to listen to the concerns of community members, she said. “I think you have to hear people out where they are and where they want to be heard. So, I don’t think that we’ve really gotten there yet,” she said.

More information about Lieber’s policy positions and priorities are available on her campaign website, https://www.sallylieber.org.