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The race is on: Ellen Kamei, a member of the city’s Environmental Planning Commission, announced last Thursday that she will run for a City Council seat. She is now the fourth person seeking to be elected this November.
Kamei, 34, points to her extensive involvement in local politics to prove her ability to get things done. Mountain View continues to face mounting challenges surrounding housing and transportation, and Kamei said she is best equipped to take on the job.
“I’m running to create and maintain opportunities for all residents to thrive,” she said when asked to summarize her campaign.
Kamei is a third-generation Mountain View resident, and her grandparents previously ran the Kamei flower nursery in what is now the city’s Waverly Park neighborhood. She has made a career out of public service, earning a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and serving as a policy aide to Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, and as a staffer for Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo. Since last year, she has worked as district director for state Assemblyman Marc Berman, who represents Mountain View.
More than any other role, Kamei points to her six years on the city’s Environmental Planning Commission. In that position, she was tasked with reviewing countless plans for new buildings, roadways and neighborhood plans. It gave her a knack for understanding the concerns of residents as well as private developers seeking to build in Mountain View.
Her priorities for leadership are to address the areas being left behind. In particular, she wants to help the so-called “missing middle,” the median-income households who are too well-off to qualify for public assistance, but too poor to buy a home. Building more ownership housing should be a goal as the city revises its housing element, she said.
Stronger incentives for building inclusionary housing and easier approvals for smaller development should also be considered, she said. From housing, she quickly segues to transportation, emphasizing that city growth must be balanced by traffic mitigation.
Kamei is less enthusiastic about rent control, arguably the most polarizing issue in Mountain View. She doesn’t count herself as a supporter of the city’s current rent control policies, but she avoids any full-throated criticism of the program. Voters made up their minds when they passed rent control in 2016, she said; however, it is only fair for opponents to seek their own initiative in the 2018 race, she said.
“Rent control is not a permanent solution for housing,” she said. “I’d prefer to brainstorm what else we can do.”
As a top concern, Kamei points to the spread of people living out of RVs, and the need to tailor more local services to help them. In concept, she supports having some restrictions on people parking their vehicles near parks and schools, but admits that she needs to learn more about the issue.
Three City Council seats are up for election this November, and are currently occupied by Mayor Lenny Siegel, Pat Showalter and Ken Rosenberg. Siegel and Showalter have announced they intend to run for re-election while Rosenberg says he will not seek a second term.
Kamei’s colleague on the city’s Environmental Planning Commission, Lucas Ramirez, announced in February he would seek a council seat and has received Rosenberg’s endorsement.
Kamei ran for City Council in 2014, a crowded race with nine candidates. Her platform was focused on quality-of-life issues and ensuring the city’s growth didn’t come at a sacrifice to its residents. When it came to future growth in North Bayshore, Kamei said that it was a poor location for housing that would cause a “traffic nightmare” on nearby roads.
Her views have evolved on that plan, as have the city’s vision for how to do it. Kamei now counts herself as a supporter of the plans to build 9,850 homes near the Google headquarters, saying it makes sense now that the city is investing the forethought for transit, schools and other services. Last December, she voted as a member of the Environmental Planning Commission in support of the revised precise plan to add housing in North Bayshore.
“What’s changed for me is now we have a real vision that shows it’s actually possible,” Kamei said. “For me, it wasn’t a question of supporting housing, it was being thoughtful about it.”
Thrilled to see Ellen Kamei running. She is smart, reasonable, and deeply rooted in Mountain View. Go Ellen!
Great options for the Council seats so far. The challenge will be how to choose among them!
She lost some years ago. Not sure what she’s actually done besides be a connected local who tries to get into local politics, but every few years, here she comes back again, touting those roots (San Jose really though)
Let’s not get carried away about for quality candidates! I am excited to see Ellen running but for Lenny you got to be kidding me!! He is the main reason our RV problem is so bad! Lenny wants to make MTN VIEW the BERKLEY of the area. Sickening!
@Really Bruce, Berkeley evicted their waterfront RV’s last month. I am keeping my eyes open for the new arrivals in Mountain View….
We need council candidates who will slow down the out of control development with no infrastructure to support it. I will NOT be voting for Siegel or Showwalter who support “build baby build”!
Time to change the balance of power on MV City Council, the only way to do that is to elect new council members who care about the quality of life and are not beholden to developers. The high-density luxury rentals going up all over the city serve as transient housing for tech workers, they will not make their homes here, they will stay a few years and move on to a real community.
Sorry Ellen – no housing support – no vote.
I was born on July 19, 1959 and grew up in Mountain View. My Dad was foreman at Ozawa’s Nursery at 235 Ortega Ave. In 1967 we moved to Santa Clara but I always consider M.V. as my Hometown.
Great article about City Counsel Race in Nov 2018. I agree that is time to elect new CC’s who care about M.V.
I know Lucas R. and Ellen K. Both are smart, young community involved citizens of M.V. Both would make great CC’s in M.V.
I always go back to M.V. to visit. I miss Linda’s fast food place. Google has totally changed M.V. Which is good and bad!
Its great that M.V. will have some great candidates to choose from in Nov. Good Luck Lucas and Ellen.
As someone who knocked on doors in the 2014 race, I remember nine candidates for City Council, not eight!
https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2014/11/04/showalter-rosenberg-and-siegel-lead-in-early-council-election-results
1. Showalter topped all the candidates with 16.57 percent of the vote.
2. Ken Rosenberg held 14.79 percent
3. Lenny Siegel had 13.31 percent.
4. Lisa Matichak with 11.42 percent.
5. Greg Unangst with 10.70 percent.
6. Ellen Kamei with 10.28 percent.
7. Margaret Capriles with 9.85 percent.
8. Mercedes Salem at 6.75 percent.
9. Jim Neal with 6.32 percent.
I know the Google employees are fed up with the housing situation. They will not vote for anyone who is not pro housing and definitely not anyone who is against north bayshore development.
Ellen Kamei has sure worked for a lot of politicians. Why so many? In any event, figure Ellen this time around knows plenty about local issues. That is a plus. The question then is WHERE DOES SHE STAND SPECIFICALLY on, for example, (1) whether voters should sign the “sneaky” petition to repeal Measure V, (2) what she would do, if anything, to stop the residential highrises (without even parking for the new residents) that would be authorized by the enactment of state Senate Bill 827 (or a similar bill), and (3) whether to halt the waste of city funds and other resources on a school site in the San Antonio area that the Los Alto School District may (and surely will) use to house Bullis Charter School (not a neighborhood school). Maybe the candidate could start her campaign by addressing those 3 issues. Go ahead. Post.