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Occupation: Mountain View Whisman School board trustee
Age: 44
Years living in Mountain View: 18
Top priorities: Thriving neighborhoods, public safety and healthy community
Devon Conley, a Mountain View Whisman School board trustee, is looking to make the jump from education to city politics. For some, this might seem like a big leap, but to Conley, it is a natural extension of her longtime commitment to serving the public and making an impactful difference.
As an educator with an urban planning background, Conley has a lot of ideas to improve the quality of life for Mountain View residents. At the top of Conley’s priorities is thriving neighborhoods, which includes family-friendly housing – an issue that she believes is hugely important to the city.
At the moment, however, there is uncertainty with how Mountain View will meet its housing goals, Conley said. Google has pulled back on some of its development plans in North Bayshore, potentially impacting housing production. “We don’t know what’s going to happen next out there, the housing element relied on many, many housing units in that area,” Conley said.
On the issue of affordable housing, Conley says the city’s requirement for below-market rate developers to set aside 15% of their units as affordable is a good start, but housing for low and very low-income families still remains a big challenge.
Conley described the city’s response to providing housing for low-income families as “fair,” not because the city is doing a mediocre job, but because it’s such a difficult task getting affordable homes built. “It takes significant subsidies and funding streams and creativity to actually solve (the issue),” she said.
Aiming to diversify the city’s housing stock, Conley says she wants the city to provide more incentives to build stacked flats, which are good options for seniors and families with young children, she said. She also wants to see more two and three-bedroom units for larger families. On the whole though, Conley supports a diversity of housing types at a range of price points.
As a school trustee, Conley has an up-close view of how housing instability impacts the wellbeing of students. Since the pandemic, the homeless population in the school district has been increasing, Conley said. To keep vulnerable populations housed, Conley supports the expansion of safe parking sites, as well as transitional housing opportunities, like Crestview, she said.
If the city heads into leaner economic times, Conley says she still would prioritize housing, as well as public safety services in the budget. Lobbying at the state and federal level to help finance major capital improvements projects also is key, especially if Measure G fails to pass this November, she said.
In terms of downtown revitalization, Conley emphasized the need to modernize and speed up permitting processes, especially for small businesses. It also might be possible to “right-size” some of the larger commercial buildings into smaller interior spaces, making it more affordable for retailers, she said, adding she did not want to change the historical nature of buildings.
Conley supports a vacancy tax as a last resort, as well as an office cap and paid parking, but says the city should implement a residential parking permit program first. To make the downtown area more of a destination spot, the city could focus more on Moffett Boulevard too, she said.
In respect to the environment, Conley supports raising park fees, but not if it hinders residential development. For commercial developments, she favors it without reservation. Because funding for parks and open space is so expensive, Conley says she also would be interested in using the transfer development rights as a kind of currency, or land swaps and park land dedication from developers.
On the big question of the city and Mountain View Whisman School district’s relationship, Conley characterized it as “good,” stating that they have successfully partnered on many issues, like workforce housing and joint use agreements to manage shared spaces and sports pavilions.
The Shoreline funding agreement has been challenging because a lot of money is involved, Conley said, adding that there is pressure on both sides with fiscal uncertainty on the horizon. “But I actually think that we have a very strong partnership across many, many areas,” she said.
Conley declined to comment more on the school district’s relationship with the city, citing concerns about the Brown Act and her role as a school trustee. Conley also says that if she were elected to the council, she would be recused from any Shoreline district discussions for at least a year, possibly in perpetuity.
More information about Conley’s policy positions and priorities can be found on her campaign website, https://www.devonconley.com.
