By Jon Wiener
City council member and former mayor Matt Neely is poised to resign from his post and move to Europe this summer, leaving behind a promising political career and a full-time job as assistant principal at Mountain View High School.
As of press time, Neely was in contract negotiations for a position as principal of the American Overseas School in Rome, a 600-student school that spans pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
“It’s a big step for my career. It’s a wonderful opportunity,” said Neely.
Neely, 36, has been looking for opportunities overseas for more than a year and has previously turned down at least one offer. He said that there are “six or seven reasons” for the move, including professional advancement, lower cost of living, and the desire to raise a family abroad with his wife, Erica.
Neely said he will remain in Mountain View until the council recess in July, and is looking forward to going through the budget process and labor negotiations without having to worry about the political fallout from his positions.
“I’m going to stay focused and committed the whole time I’m here,” said Neely. “I don’t want to be dismissed. I can really go for it.”
Four years in council
Popular during his 15 years at Mountain View High, Neely’s political campaign was buoyed by an eager team of former students who helped him win a council seat in 2002. Running on a platform of higher-density housing and improved youth services, he emerged as the top vote-getter of 11 candidates despite never having held elected office or served on a city commission.Before joining the council, Neely served on the Chamber of Commerce board and was a co-founder of the Mountain View Civic Forum. In his first two years in office, Neely — the only council member with a full-time job — occasionally appeared to be overwhelmed by the amount of work.
But during his turn as mayor in 2005, he completed a transformation into a natural political leader. He relocated the council members off the dais for a study session on the controversial Mayfield Mall housing development, in a move so effective at keeping the discussion informal and blunting ideological tensions that it has become a de facto council policy.
“He worked hard to create an effective team on the council,” said city manager Kevin Duggan. “He understood that in local government, democratic process isn’t only about what you think is the right answer. It’s about allowing people to voice their thoughts, their ideas. …
“[He wanted] to make sure people walked away feeling, to the greatest degree possible, that they were heard, even if there wasn’t always agreement.”
After a nasty debate over a gay pride proclamation brought forward by a group of high school students temporarily put the Los Altos City Council in the spotlight, Neely avoided a similar situation in Mountain View by using his powers as mayor to declare June “Gay Pride Month.” And when the council deadlocked on whether to even consider a medical marijuana facility proposed by Jonathan Lustig, one of his former students, Neely kept debate open until a majority coalesced around a compromise to revisit the issue in study session.
In his biggest political victory, he managed to keep his colleagues pressing forward on construction of a child care center in Rengstorff Park in the face of fierce opposition from operators and neighbors who said they were not told about the plans. As calls grew on the council to move the center to another site or do away with it completely, Neely brokered a compromise that kept the center in the park in exchange for examining other locations that would reduce the impact on park space.
Peter Messina, a resident of Parkview West Apartments who helped galvanize his neighbors in opposition to the center, said the project left many with a sour taste in their mouths. But he came away with admiration for then-Mayor Neely.
“I appreciated the fact that even though he didn’t agree with our position, he at least was open to listening to us,” said Messina. “I think that’s why he made a great mayor; he didn’t shut out people who disagreed with him.”
New seat to fill
Neely’s departure will create a vacancy on the council for the first time since Mario Ambra was removed from office in 2002.Council members say they have no intention of declaring a special election, and instead will choose between either continuing with only six members or appointing someone to fill Neely’s seat. Some members, including Neely, worry that the appointment process could become an undemocratic struggle for the balance of power on the council, while a six-member board would risk a greater number of deadlocked votes.
Neely’s departure also increases the likelihood that the council will continue to shift towards a more conservative view. His colleagues say Neely is a true progressive. (Council member Matt Pear took to calling him a socialist during meetings last year).
This November, Mike Kasperzak, a Republican who claims to be the most liberal person on the council, will term out. Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Greg Perry, a former Green Party member who has aligned with Neely and Kasperzak on environmental and housing issues, could face opposition from a record number of political organizations during his campaign for reelection.
With many neighborhood groups expressing growing frustration over multi-family housing developments on former industrial and agricultural sites all over town, the possibility of a blowback in the November election looms large.
“It throws the election pretty wide open,” said Perry. “Whether it changes the council depends on who runs and who gets elected.”
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener
