|
January 12 Introductory Comments —
I want to begin by thank the people who helped me to win this election. A special thanks to my family for their integral roles in my campaign — Abby for stepping up to be campaign manager, Steve for being in charge of sign distribution, and Ben for Texting. Thanks to the members of my Campaign Committee – Max Beckman-Harned, Nancy Noe, Mike Kasperzak, Cliff Chambers, Andre Thomas, Moe Korth, Allegra Stahl, Alicia Clum, Daniela Shapiro, Akhand Dugar, Joan MacDonald, Pamela Baird, Greg Unangst, Emily Ramos, Karen Paradise, and to all who walked precincts to drop literature for me.
When I was on the campaign trail this time, I was pleased to learn that I have a reputation for three primary things: 1) being a good listener and treating people with respect, 2) being a housing advocate, and 3) being an environmental advocate.
Treating people with respect is foundational. Now that I have been elected, I am the Councilmember for the entire community. Of course, the first people we consider as part of our community are the residents, but it’s also the people who work here and have businesses here. It’s every resident of Mountain View whether you are a voter or not AND whether you voted for me or not.
First order of business is to get through COVID pandemic safely and with as little economic damage as possible. During this emergency, long-term issues of housing, homelessness, racial justice and climate change have become even more obvious.
Insufficient housing is still a huge issue in our region and our city. Mountain View has a good track record on housing development relative to our neighbors, but we all need to do better. We must continue to develop appropriate housing and to find ways to assist those who are living in RV’s or unsheltered on our streets.
We must also continue to work on climate change protections–both sea level rise protections and greenhouse gas reductions. When I left the Council two years ago, I asked that the work on emergency protections—particularly with respect to sea level rise and fixing soft-story buildings that are vulnerable in earthquakes—move forward. They are still needed, and of course, we also know that long-term planning for pandemics is also needed.
I support the recently begun Race, Equity and Inclusion efforts and the newly established Public Safety Advisory Board. It is incumbent on every community to take an honest look at ourselves and make sure that we are doing all that we can to provide a safe and just living environment for all of our residents.
In addressing the pandemic and these on-going major issues, we’ve all had to be much more flexible than we ever imagined and we know we aren’t out of the woods yet. The City has put in place some great programs and I look forward to strengthening them and making changes as needed.
As we’ve seen in recent days, civility and the ability to work with people who have differing opinions has never been more important. Throughout my professional career, I’ve worked with a number of councils from different cities. I’m proud that ours has a long tradition of civility. I’ve sometimes described it as excruciatingly polite. I’m going to work hard to maintain that tradition of civility. Not only does it make our job more pleasant, but it allows us to be more effective and efficient. We all need to understand that there are things that intelligent people disagree on and that disagreement is ok if it is handled constructively. It’s even productive when it daylights different perspectives that suggest new solutions.
I look forward to working with my Council colleagues, and with you the members of our community. In order to do a good job as your Councilmember, I need to know what you think about things. Please reach out to me through my City email or my website with issues, concerns and suggestions.
Regards and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2021,
Pat
Councilmember Pat Showalter |
