|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
With audience members cheering and small children twirling in front of the dais, the selection of Mountain View’s new mayor and vice mayor sailed through the City Council Tuesday evening in a unanimous vote.
The City Council picked Emily Ann Ramos to take over the helm as mayor and Chris Clark to become vice mayor at the first council meeting of the year on Jan. 13. The selection followed a well-established city protocol in which every council member gets to serve as mayor in a rotation typically based on seniority.
Ramos has been the vice mayor for the past year. With Tuesday’s vote, she became the first person of Filipino descent in Mountain View history to serve as mayor.
“I am a daughter of immigrants who came to the United States believing in the promise that through hard work and community, their children could have a better life,” Ramos said. “That promise is why I’m here today.”
Outgoing Mayor Ellen Kamei also stressed the importance of community and belonging as hallmarks of Mountain View, which she described as not abstract values but lived experiences rooted in her family history as well.
“My paternal grandparents met here working in the fields. They faced circumstances unfortunately not dissimilar to current times,” Kamei said, adding that they were forced into an incarceration camp during World War II but returned to Mountain View afterwards. “They felt that the city was a place where unlike other communities, they could belong.”
When Kamei took over as mayor last year, she pledged to continue to fulfill the city’s commitment to being a “community for all,” including for its youngest residents. Supporting affordable child care options has been a focus of Kamei’s work as a council member and mayor.
In her address to the community, Ramos similarly emphasized her commitment to all of the city’s residents, regardless of differences in backgrounds or viewpoints.
“My focus will be on community engagement,” Ramos said. “I want all residents to feel heard, valued and empowered to shape the future of Mountain View.”
Ramos highlighted the city’s work in protecting some of its most vulnerable residents. She described policies that aim to protect community members from housing displacement as well as the city’s efforts to remove barriers to affordable housing. But she also noted the challenges that lay ahead, including the heightened fear and uncertainty some residents are experiencing under the Trump administration.
“A community becomes great not by keeping people out, but by welcoming and cherishing our neighbors,” Ramos said. “Whether they have lived here for generations or just arrived.”
Ramos encouraged residents not to shrink from these challenges but to meet them head on and engage more directly with the city and community.
“We are an ambitious city that wants to get many things done, and that requires many people giving their time and their effort,” Ramos said. “The more people involved, the better our chances of meeting our shared goals.”
To this end, Ramos said she would kick off every council meeting with an announcement about volunteer opportunities in the city. Ramos listed many possibilities for people to get involved, including participating in neighborhood associations, nonprofit groups, advisory boards and other city programs.
“There are so many needs, but that also means there are so many opportunities,” Ramos said. “Service is how community comes alive.”
‘The end of an era’: After 36 years in Palo Alto, Il Fornaio prepares to closeJanuary 13, 2026 2:05 pm
So many opportunities to volunteer to get apartment buildings built next to your house! Signup!