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Ahead of the November election, Mountain View’s City Council candidates squared off at a political forum Thursday evening, giving their perspectives on hot-button issues, like housing, oversized vehicle parking and how to take on the Trump administration.
Sam Ali, Alex Amoroso, Robert Cox, Paul Donahue, James Kuszmaul, Erik Poicon, Silja Paymer and IdaRose Sylvester are competing for three seats that are up for grabs on the City Council.
None of the contenders are incumbents and all but Poicon and Sylvester are running for the first time. The top three vote-getters will join Chris Clark, John McAlister, Emily Ann Ramos and Pat Showalter on the seven-member governing body.
Roughly 50 people attended the Oct. 8 forum at the Mountain View Community Center, which was jointly hosted by the Mountain View Voice and League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area.
Housing
Housing affordability is a perennial topic of interest and debate in Mountain View, and has gained particular attention over the past year with the passage of Senate Bill 79, a state law that allows for denser housing to be built near major transit stops, including the downtown Caltrain station.
Asked what actions Mountain View should take in response to SB 79, several candidates supported the idea of a local alternative plan – a tool that could shift housing density from the downtown area, preserving older buildings and single-family neighborhoods.
“I am a firm advocate for a SB 79 local alternative plan that will allow our council to retain control over our downtown historic retail district,” Cox said, adding that he would be willing to explore an alternative plan for other parts of the city too.
Check out related coverage
Candidate Comparison Grids: Mountain View City Council
To help voters compare and differentiate between the people running for Mountain View City Council, the Voice sent a questionnaire to all the candidates, asking about their policy positions across a wide range of issues. Check out their side-by-side responses.
View the comparison grid ➔Cox also said that he would like to see the city push back on “one-size fits all” housing legislation from the state, a perspective that Donahue also shared.
Other candidates, including Sylvester, Paymer and Poicon, expressed a desire to see the city continue its work to implement “objective design standards” governing the kind of housing that gets built.
Kuszmaul, who favors SB 79, noted that the law can help more people live and work near transit areas, improving the affordability and diversity of neighborhoods. He added that state laws, including Senate Bill 330, which offers tenant displacement protections, reduces the need for the city to come up with separate plans, creating more efficiencies.
Oversized vehicle parking
In the past year, the number of RVs and other oversized vehicles parked on Mountain View’s streets has significantly increased, an issue that has drawn the ire of local businesses and property owners.
Currently, Mountain View is subject to a legal settlement that limits the city’s ability to restrict RV and trailer street parking. That settlement expires early next year.
At the forum, the candidates weighed in on what steps the city should take to address the RV situation. Several favored further restrictions on oversized vehicles, which currently are prohibited from parking on narrow streets – a definition that covers most of the city’s roadways – and those with bike lanes.
Donahue and Paymer proposed that the city explore bans on “vanlording,” the practice of renting out RVs parked on streets.
“We wouldn’t allow slumlords in Mountain View,” Paymer said. “We should recognize that we also want to regulate the minimum standards we would expect for providing housing for somebody and make sure that everybody has high quality housing.”
Cox proposed that the council should have a study session to examine the city’s legal options with the expiration of the settlement.
Several candidates, including Ali and Amoroso, advocated for the expansion of safe parking sites and for stronger pathways to transition vehicle residents to permanent housing.
Kuszmaul noted that the city’s existing safe parking lots are not big enough to accommodate all of the RVs on city streets. Restricting street parking would just further push them into homelessness, he said.
Poicon and Sylvester argued that the city should go back to look at specific streets to determine if they are appropriate for oversized vehicle parking.
“If parking conditions are creating a real safety problem, especially on a safe route to school, a heavily used vehicle, bicycle route, or a street with poor visibility or a limited roadway width, then the city should review those conditions and act where needed,” Poicon said. He added that the process should be transparent and fair with strong community engagement.
Responding to the Trump administration
In a show of unanimity, all the candidates voiced support for city policies that seek to limit the reach of the Trump administration. That includes prohibiting federal authorities from using city property for civil immigration enforcement and signing onto a legal brief aiming to stop construction of an ICE detention center in Gilroy.
Some of the candidates wanted the city to go further in combating the actions of the Trump administration and protecting vulnerable community members.
Poicon stressed a need for clearer guidelines for city employees and stronger data and privacy protections. Earlier this year, the Mountain View Police Department removed the city’s automatic license plate readers after discovering major security breaches with the technology.
Paymer expressed a desire to see Mountain View reinstate a public safety advisory board, which the City Council dissolved two years ago. She noted that more oversight could protect the community better, citing the security and privacy lapses with the city’s automatic license plate cameras.
Kuszmaul and Sylvester also emphasized the importance of standing up for the community, drawing attention to their participation in organizing mass demonstrations, like “No Kings” protests.
“I think Council members need to do a lot more than sit at the dais and pass great policy,” Sylvester said. “I think City Council members need to stand up and show up in the community.”
Read about the candidates
In recent weeks, the Voice has written profiles of each candidate, as well as published a detailed issue grid, comparing the candidates’ specific policy positions. All that coverage, along with similar reporting on other local races, is available on the Voice’s 2026 Voter Guide.
The League of Women Voters is hosting forums for a number of local races, including the Mountain View Whisman School District. Check out the full schedule, and watch videos of completed forums on their website.
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