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Robert Cox
Retired software engineer | robertcoxforcouncil.com
Top priorities
- More affordable housing for lower-income families
- “Thoughtful” housing growth that gives residents a greater say in what gets built in their neighborhoods
- Environmental resiliency, particularly protecting the Shoreline area from rising sea levels
Public service
- Mountain View Rental Housing Committee (2023-present)
- Mountain View Environmental Planning Commission (2013-2020)
Community involvement
- Livable Mountain View
- Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association
- Mountain View Historical Association
Robert Cox’s interest in local politics started more than a decade ago when he joined the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association. Since then, Cox has stepped up to take part in some of Mountain View’s most influential advisory committees, weighing in on land use and housing issues.
Now Cox is looking to bring his experience to the City Council, campaigning on the idea that he would solve problems through compromise and consensus.
“I try to look at all sides of the issue,” Cox told the Voice. “Even the ones I don’t agree with and try to craft a solution that will work for everybody.”
In this November’s General Election, Cox is one of eight candidates vying for three seats on the Mountain View City Council, which sets policies and the overall direction of the city. There are seven Council members in total.
Cox identified affordable housing as a top priority and supports the 120-unit Corso project currently under construction on a downtown parking lot. However, he wants to make sure the parking spots are replaced elsewhere.
Currently serving on the city’s Rental Housing Committee, Cox also voiced concern about the seismic safety of older apartments and wants to see what the city can do to help with the cost of retrofits.
While Cox approved new housing projects during his time on the Environmental Planning Commission, he is also an advocate of what he describes as “thoughtful growth.” Cox wants residents to have a greater voice in developments that impact their neighborhoods. For that reason, he opposes Senate Bill 79, a state law passed last year that allows for denser housing to be built near major transit stops.
“I’m not a fan of SB 79,” Cox told the Voice.
Cox, who is a member of Livable Mountain View, a historic preservation advocacy group, is particularly concerned that SB 79 could lead to the destruction of historically significant buildings on the first three blocks of Castro Street, near the Mountain View Transit Center.
Cox wants the city to create what’s known as a “local alternative plan,” a tool that could offset some of the impacts of SB 79 in the downtown area. He also said he’s interested in considering having the plan encompass the Monta Loma neighborhood, an area near the Palo Alto border composed mostly of single-family homes. With an alternative plan, cities can choose where to build housing near major transit stops so long as they maintain the same total base housing capacity that SB 79 stipulates.
“At least we could make the decision and not have it made arbitrarily with no ability to plan at all from a council perspective,” Cox said.
On the issue of homelessness, Cox supports further restricting oversized vehicles from parking on city streets. Currently, RVs and trailers are allowed to park on certain streets that are wide and don’t have bike lanes, which tend to fall mostly in industrial and commercial parts of the city. The presence of oversized vehicles in those areas is negatively impacting local businesses, Cox said.
“I don’t think that having people living on the streets in RVs is a permanent housing solution or a preferable one,” Cox told the Voice.
He added that the city’s safe parking lots were created as a temporary solution to help people find stable housing and said people should not stay in the lots indefinitely.
When asked about his approach to the city’s budget, Cox did not see much to shake up. Mountain View is projected to face modest budget deficits over the next few years. Cox wants to focus on maintaining core services, like strong police and fire departments, as well as investing in road and infrastructure maintenance. He also favors efforts to revitalize the downtown area, including providing more funding to fill vacant storefronts.
Cox sees some opportunities for revenue generation, including supporting a measure to raise the local hotel tax, but said he did not have much of an appetite to increase city fees or other taxes at the moment.
Cox stressed environmental sustainability as another key campaign priority. Because of Mountain View’s proximity to the San Francisco Bay, Cox identified rising sea levels as a threat that he would seek to address if elected to office. Cox supports city efforts to reduce carbon emissions, including implementing building reach codes and installing more EV charging stations in the city.
At the same time, Cox said he would take a “practical” approach to environmental leadership, noting that not everyone can afford environmentally-friendly options. Costs should be subsidized, as seen with the city’s water heater rebate program, he said.
On the issue of bike lanes, Cox says he generally supports them but also abstained from weighing in on whether Mountain View should replicate the changes made to California Street in other locations throughout the city. The project, which has drawn a mixed response from local residents, reduced vehicle lanes to make space for protected bike lanes.
The city is currently conducting a community survey on the project and Cox said he wants to see the results before reaching a final decision about future iterations of the project.
In the coming days, the Voice will be publishing individual profiles of each City Council candidate. To compare the candidates side-by-side on the issues, check out our Candidate Comparison Grid. And head over to our 2026 Election Center to view all of our recent coverage.
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