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Mayor Lucas Ramirez was still a fresh face on the Mountain View City Council in June 2019, when he and his fellow council members approved a work plan that aimed to tackle some of the biggest challenges the city faces: new rowhomes displacing low-income apartment residents; updating the multi-family zoning district to encourage naturally affordable development; helping hardworking Mountain View residents who are victimized by wage theft.
“I think all of us were very excited to get to work,” said 34-year-old Ramirez, who also works as a policy advisor to San Jose Councilmember Sergio Jimenez. “And then, not too long after that in March 2020, we had to pause everything and transition to pandemic relief and recovery. … So part of the reason why I’m seeking reelection is I’d like to finish that work.”
With housing as his top priority if reelected, Ramirez believes Mountain View is in a lucky position: most of the growth the city needs to plan for – the more than 11,000 net new units required to meet state quotas – is currently accommodated for in the general plan, he said.
But some community members have concerns that parts of the city, particularly North Bayshore, won’t have enough infrastructure to meet the needs of thousands of new residents. Ramirez said a few key funding sources – things like impact fees, the community benefit obligation and the tax increment district which allows the city to reinvest some property tax revenue into the area – will allow the city to bridge the infrastructure gap.
“Is it enough to meet all of the needs for North Bayshore? Probably not, but we think we can make a lot of headway,” he said. “And then we also have a partner in Google, which I think has been successful in unlocking some other funding sources to help implement the vision in North Bayshore.”
Some residents have spoken loud and clear that they don’t want to see shopping centers in the city redeveloped.
“We’re not saying that we want those shopping centers to close,” Ramirez told the Voice. “We’re not saying that we want to redevelop them.”
But because of state legislation like SB 1333, which requires cities to align their zoning with their general plans, “state law has made the decision for us in many respects,” Ramirez said.
“Even if we took no action and (left) those shopping centers zoned the way they are today, a very aggressive developer can pursue a ministerially approved housing development, … because the general plan already allows residential in each of those shopping centers,” Ramirez said. “So there’s a lot of value in the city proactively rezoning and coming up with development standards that help guarantee an outcome that is community supported.”
Looking back at what the council was able to accomplish during his first term, Ramirez said he’s most proud of the city’s pandemic response, and particularly the services bolstered for unhoused individuals, things like the Project Homekey site on Leghorn Street and the city’s Safe Parking Program.
But there’s still more to be done, Ramriez said. He acknowledged concerns around the future of the Safe Parking Program capacity, given plans for the former VTA transit lot at Pioneer Way and Evelyn Avenue to be redeveloped.
“As some of the sites that we have right now go away and are instead replaced with permanent supportive housing … we will need to find a way to transition the folks who are currently there to a comparable interim opportunity, an interim housing solution, and then also find ways to increase supply,” he said.
Ramirez said that could look like utilizing additional space at the Shoreline Amphitheatre safe parking lot, or seeking out privately owned parcels.
Another big question mark when it comes to people dwelling in their vehicles – particularly those living in oversized RVs – is where they will go now that the city is enforcing the Narrow Streets and Bike Lane ordinances. Ramirez did not support the Narrow Streets ordinance in 2019.
“I’m concerned that we’re playing a game of Whack-a-Mole,” Ramirez said. “We’re shifting the inhabited vehicles from one part of the city to a different part, and the part that will be impacted now will have the same types of concerns that the impacted areas are sharing with the council.”
That being said, Ramirez supported implementing the will of the voters, 57% of whom voted to uphold the ordinances through Measure C in 2020. But he would like to see a more systemic solution to the issue by continuing to build affordable housing in the city – and under the state-mandated Housing Element update process, the city will need to add more affordable units to meet state requirements.
If reelected, Ramirez said he would support exploring local funding sources for affordable housing, such as a bond measure at the city level.
“Short of a ballot measure, it’s very difficult to find the amounts of funding that we will need to deliver these projects,” Ramirez said.
As the city grows and major streets get even busier, Ramirez said another top priority is transportation safety. He looks forward to making headway on the El Camino Real Streetscape Plan, which calls for pedestrian and bicycle improvements, such as the conversion of on-street parking to protected bikeways along El Camino, intersection improvements and three new pedestrian crossings. There’s also the El Camino repaving project, which Ramirez said is set to begin in spring 2023.
Similarly, Ramirez said, California Street has had a challenging history of traffic safety.
“There’s been strong community support for a Complete Streets project, which includes a lane reduction and protected bike lanes,” he said. “For a variety of reasons, the project has stalled.”
At the time, city staff came back to council with an idea for a one-block pilot program. Ramirez and the council provided direction to staff to expand the pilot program beyond one block, from Showers Drive to Shoreline Boulevard.
Another quality of life issue that Ramirez promises to tackle if elected to a second term is increasing the city’s parks and open space, particularly for the Monta Loma neighborhood.
“We have some meaningful work plan items that will look at parks and open space, and opportunities to acquire open space and generate funding for the construction of parks,” he said. “… I’m hopeful that we can get that work done within the next 12 to 18 months.”
Ramirez’s key endorsements include the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, Mountain View YIMBY, the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, State Assemblymember Marc Berman and State Senator Josh Becker.
