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With the candidate filing period over, Mountain View residents now have a clearer picture of who they will get to choose between in the Nov. 3 general election.
Local races include Mountain View City Council, Santa Clara Valley Water District and three school districts: Los Altos, Mountain View Whisman and Mountain View Los Altos High.
Mountain View City Council
A mix of new and familiar faces are hitting the campaign trail this fall for the Mountain View City Council. Eight candidates are vying for three seats that are up for election in November.
They are:
- Samuel Ali, a Google security specialist
- Alexander Amoroso, a U.S. Army officer
- Robert Cox, a retired Intel lead who currently serves on the city’s Rental Housing Committee
- Paul Donahue, an engineer who currently serves on the city’s Environmental Planning Commission
- James Kuszmaul, a software engineer who currently serves on the city’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee
- Silja Paymer, a Los Altos High School teacher who is a founding member of GreenSpacesMV, a local environmental group
- Erik Poicon, a longtime community organizer who currently serves on the city’s Human Relations Commission
- IdaRose Sylvester, a local activist who currently serves on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission
Sylvester and Poicon both ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2024. The other six candidates are newcomers to the race.
Current council members Alison Hicks, Ellen Kamei and Lucas Ramirez will all leave office in January. Due to Mountain View’s term limits, they are not eligible to seek reelection until 2028 because they have served two consecutive terms on council.
Mountain View Whisman School District
Four candidates, including two incumbents, are running for a pair of seats on the Mountain View Whisman school board.
Initially, only incumbents Devon Conley and Bill Lambert stepped forward to run, but two challengers emerged days before the filing period ended. They are Quintin Riis and Sundar Subbarayan.
Riis is an engineer and district parent, as well as a leader of an unsuccessful recall attempt against Conley.
Subbarayan has been an active volunteer in both the Mountain View Whisman and Mountain View Los Altos High School districts, which his two children attended.
Mountain View Los Altos High School District
The November general election will mark the high school district’s shift from at-large to by-area elections. This year, three of the trustee areas – 1, 2 and 3 – were potentially going to be on the ballot.
However, the Area 1 and 2 races turned out to be uncontested and won’t appear before voters. Nir Paz, a father and engineer, was the only one to step forward for Area 1, which covers Mountain View north of the U.S. Highway 101, including Monta Loma and part of the San Antonio neighborhoods.
Current City Council member Ellen Kamei is the only candidate for the Area 2 seat, which encompasses a northeastern portion of Mountain View, covering the Moffett Boulevard, North Whisman, Rex Manor, Slater, Stierlin Estates, Sylvan Park, Wagon Wheel and Whisman Station neighborhoods.
The one race actually up for a vote this November is Area 3, which includes an eastern portion of Mountain View south of Central Expressway, covering the Cuesta Park, Old Mountain View and Shoreline West neighborhoods. Voters in those neighborhoods will get to choose between Thida Cornes, Sanjay Dave and Catherine Vonnegut. Vonnegut and Cornes currently serve on the school board, while Dave served from 2016 to 2024.
Los Altos School District
One challenger has emerged to run against a trio of incumbents looking to keep their seats on the Los Altos School District board. All three incumbents, Brandon Stroy, Vaishali Sirkay and Bryan Johnson, will be running for reelection, along with David Poll, a parent and engineer.
Sirkay was first elected in 2018, while Johnson joined the board in 2016. Stroy was appointed to the board earlier this year after Vladimir Ivanovic resigned his seat.
The school district’s boundaries encompass portions of Mountain View, as well as Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Voters living anywhere within the district’s attendance area can vote in the school board race.
Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors
Voters in Mountain View, Palo Alto and other surrounding cities will decide who represents Area 7 on the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Board of Directors. Also referred to as Valley Water, the district manages much of the area’s local water supply and spearheads Santa Clara County’s stream maintenance and flood protection.
The water district is split into seven geographic areas, with one director appointed by the voters in each area. Area 7 covers portions of Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos, among other communities.
Incumbent Rebecca Eisenberg is running again, facing off against current Los Altos City Council Member Pete Dailey.
El Camino Healthcare District Board of Directors
Two seats are up on the El Camino Healthcare District’s Board of Directors this fall, but only incumbents Peter Fung and George Ting filed to run, so the race won’t be on November’s ballot.
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors
Four seats on the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District‘s seven-member board of directors are up this November, two of which encompass portions of Mountain View. However, in the case of both seats serving Mountain View, only the incumbent filed to run, so the races won’t be on the ballot.
Incumbent Yoriko Kishimoto was the only candidate who filed to run for Ward 2, which represents portions of Mountain View, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Loyola and Stanford.
And incumbent Karen Holman was the only candidate who filed to run for Ward 5, which represents portions of Mountain View, Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Sunnyvale.
Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees
Two seats are up for a vote on the Foothill-De Anza Community College this November, but neither one represents Mountain View. Trustee Area 1, which encompasses Mountain View, will be on the ballot in 2028. Laura Casas currently holds the seat.
