October 22, 2004

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Publication Date: Friday, October 22, 2004

Margaret Abe-Koga

Margaret Abe-Koga isn't worried about trying to balance her responsibilities as a mother of two young children with a position on the city council. In fact, the human relations commissioner and county board of education trustee said her children actually motivated her to run.

"It's not just about me now. It's about their future," she said.

Abe-Koga, who describes herself as a full-time mother, points out that being a mother would give her a perspective that would be unique among her fellow council members.

In addition to the new senior center project now underway, Abe-Koga would like to see the counicl support children's services such as preschools at the council level.

Abe-Koga herself had a humble childhood. Her father worked as a gardener and her mother in the food service industry. Immigrants from Japan, they encouraged their daughter to study hard and get involved in school and community activities

Abe-Koga went off to Harvard, where she worked her way through school. When she returned, she began working for U.S Representative Anna Eshoo, first for her successful 1990 campaign, then as a field representative and later as the manager of the district office.

She believes that experience and her ability to form relationships with county, state and federal officials will be a boon to the council on issues like the toxic clean-up efforts and obtaining grant funding for the Stevens Creek Trail.

A homeowner in Mountain View since 1998, Abe-Koga now lives in Old Mountain View with her husband, their two daughters and her parents. She said she wants to focus on neighborhood preservation issues.

"We need to look at existing neighborhoods before adding housing and make sure it fits well," she said, specifically mentioning concerns about impacts on parks and transportation.

She is sympathetic to homeowners who were affected by the interim historic preservation ordinance as well as Monta Loma residents fearful of high-density housing at the former Mayfield Mall site, now a vacant commercial area.

After attending a recent public hearing on the project, Abe-Koga said "The message was, 'Why are we designing buildings when we haven't decided to rezone?'"

Abe-Koga said she is interested in seeing a mixed-use development on the site, which could be a tall order given the high current rate of office and retail vacancies.

"Just walking downtown it's kind of shocking to see how many open storefronts there are," she said.

Abe-Koga believes the most pressing issue facing the city is the need for economic revitalization. Rather than raise fees on struggling businesses, she said she would rather dip into reserves to stave off budget cuts.

She would like to continue the city-sponsored tours of available commercial property, increase signage directing people to local shopping districts and streamline the permitting process for business, perhaps on the model of Sunnyvale's one-stop permit fairs.

"These are these things that didn't have to be done before," she said, "We just need to be more creative now."

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