Council field almost set Council field almost set (August 06, 2004)

Up to eight are vying for four seats

By Jon Wiener

Barring last-minute filers, voters will have a diverse choice of up to eight candidates for Mountain View City Council in November, including incumbents Nick Galiotto and Mayor Matt Pear.

Candidates will be vying for four open seats, including the two vacated by Rosemary Stasek and Mary Lou Zoglin, the current council's only two women.

Three of the hopefuls, Stephanie Schaaf, Margaret Abe-Koga and Laura Macias, hope to make sure at least two or three council seats are filled by women. They are joined by Tom Means, Kalwant Sandhu and Gene Cavanaugh, although Cavanaugh said Tuesday that he had not made a final decision on whether to run.

As of Tuesday, only Galiotto, Pear and Means, an economics professor at San Jose State University and a parks and recreation commissioner, had filed their nomination papers. The other candidates all planned to file by the Aug. 6 deadline. Tram Tran, who took out papers July 12, the first day they were available, has decided not to run.

Pear and Galiotto, who is serving a two-year term, have been quiet on the campaign trail so far. In fact, only community activist Stephanie Schaaf has truly begun her campaign in earnest.

The financial disclosure reports filed by the candidates on Monday showed Schaaf with a significant fund-raising lead, having collected $10,150.28 by July 30. Pear and Galiotto, by comparison, had $1,133.79 and $468.19, respectively. Margaret Abe-Koga, the only other candidate to file a report with the city clerk, had raised $100.

More than 90 percent of Schaaf's funds have come from 77 individuals who contributed between $50 and $250 to her campaign. The council lowered the contribution level requiring disclosure to $50 last year in its effort to reform campaign financing. The council also set a voluntary spending limit of $16,882. All of the candidates have expressed their intention to abide by it.

Schaaf is among the council hopefuls this summer who plan to emulate Council member Greg Perry's success in 2002. Perry spent only about $7,000, $4,300 of which went to pay for a mailer that arrived late on election day, instead basing his campaign on precinct-walking efforts.

Laura Macias has served on the environmental planning commission, traditionally a stepping stone to the council, since 2002. She is not planning to run just by advertising that credential, though.

Instead, she said, "I'm planning to do a Greg Perry," perhaps coining the term for this year's most popular campaign strategy.

Margaret Abe-Koga said that Bruce Karney, who lost to Galiotto in the two-year race in 2002, won every precinct he walked, a lesson she said she's planning to take to heart as she begins her campaign.

All three female candidates have lined up endorsements from former mayor and current state Assembly member Sally Lieber, who has expressed a desire to see progressive women continue to serve on the council.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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