|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Paul Donahue
Hardware engineer | electpauldonahue.com
Top priorities
- Adding housing while maintaining “neighborhood character”
- Environmental sustainability with a focus on expanding parks and increasing tree canopy
- Supporting small businesses and revitalizing the downtown area
Public service
- Mountain View Environmental Planning Commission (2024-present)
- Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission (2013-present)
- Mountain View Board of Library Trustees (2015-2022)
- Mountain View Downtown Committee (2014-2015)
- Mountain View Parks and Recreation Commission (2007-2013)
Community involvement
- Cuesta Park Neighborhood Association
For the past two decades, Paul Donahue has served on city advisory committees weighing in on land use, housing and environmental issues. He is now seeking to shape policies from the council dais.
“I want to represent the entire community,” Donahue told the Voice.
In this November’s General Election, Donahue 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.
Donahue identified housing as a top priority. He says that Mountain View is making progress on carrying out its Housing Element, a state-mandated document that lays out the city’s plan to add more than 11,000 new homes by 2031. However, he is concerned that the city is falling behind on below-market rate units.
“Insofar as the city can incentivize or control [to] try to get more of those affordable units, I think we need to do everything we can,” he said.
At the same time, Donahue is opposed to Senate Bill 79, a state law that allows for denser housing to be built near major transit stops. For Donahue, SB 79 applies a “blanket approach” that takes away too much local control, even from cities like Mountain View that have received a “prohousing” designation from the state.
Donahue wants the city to implement a “local alternative plan” to offset the impacts of SB 79, especially in the downtown area and Monta Loma neighborhood, a part of the city near Palo Alto that consists 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.
“I don’t have any particular idea in mind about specifically where the density should be,” Donahue said. “But I think that we need to look at those two areas.”
On the issue of homelessness, Donahue supports further restricting oversized vehicles from parking on city streets but added that he is not in favor of an outright ban. Donahue is interested in examining prohibitions on vanlording, the practice of renting out RVs parked on streets. He believes the practice is potentially exploitative because vehicle tenants do not have protections against eviction or substandard living conditions.
Donahue views the city’s safe parking sites as a good stop-gap solution but thinks getting people into permanent housing should be the ultimate goal.
With respect to the city’s budget, Donahue says Mountain View is in good shape for the moment but he would consider ways to reduce costs if the deficit grows dramatically. Currently, the city is projecting modest deficits over the next few years. Donahue does not favor raising fees or implementing layoffs, instead preferring to “look for efficiencies” and possible cost savings by trimming underutilized programs.
Asked whether he would support the city placing a general bond to fund capital projects on the ballot, Donahue said he would if it focused on raising money for parks in underserved neighborhoods.
Donahue identified economic vitality as a top priority. On the issue of empty downtown storefronts, Donahue does not back a vacancy tax, arguing that it has had mixed results in other cities. Rather, Donahue favors more streamlined permitting processes to help small businesses get off the ground. Donahue also thinks the part of Castro Street closed off to vehicles could be improved so that it feels more “intentional” and “coherent,” he said.
With respect to transportation, Donahue supports the vehicle lane reduction and new protected bike lanes on California Street. Improving road safety is important, especially for student bicyclists, Donahue said. But he noted that the pilot project is “not perfect” and that visibility could be improved when pulling out of driveways.
Donahue also wants to see the city invest more in its roads and sidewalks, in terms of both repaving and general maintenance.
On environmental issues, Donahue thinks Mountain View is making good progress, despite waning federal support that has set back some of the city’s carbon neutrality goals. Donahue says the city is “doing more than our fair share of trying to combat climate change” and praised initiatives like the water heater rebate program.
However, Donahue would like to see more accountability in terms of tracking sustainability goals. Donahue, who served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, expressed particular concern about preserving the city’s heritage trees and supports increasing permit fees when a developer removes them.
Donahue does not want to see Mountain View reinstall automatic license plate readers, even with a company other than Flock Safety. Donahue also supports Mountain View’s efforts to not allow federal agents on city property for civil immigration enforcement.
“I want to protect our most vulnerable residents and continue to ensure that we are a community for all,” he said.
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.
