Unbeetable eats WEEKEND | 19
NOVEMBER 28, 2014 VOLUME 22, NO. 44
www.MountainViewOnline.com
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MOVIES | 22
City asks: Should developers fund more affordable housing? By Daniel DeBolt
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MICHELLE LE
Nicole embraces her mother Sobeida Lopez at a rally following President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration policies.
MV activists celebrate Obama’s immigration action By Daniel DeBolt
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esidents gathered in Mountain View’ Civic Center plaza last Friday afternoon to celebrate President Barack Obama’s executive order as a victory in the ongo-
ing struggle to reform the country’s immigration laws. “We are here to celebrate what President Obama said yesterday,” said Mountain View resident and community organizer Job Lopez. “We will keep fighting.”
Obama’s executive order, which he announced in a speech Thursday night, Nov. 20, is expected to protect 5 million of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants. See RALLY, page 9
ity officials want to know if residents think developers of offices and housing should pay more for the development of affordable housing in Mountain View. Up for debate is whether to raise fees that affordable housing advocates have long said are too low — fees that developers must pay when developing offices, and when building homes if affordable housing is not included in the residential development itself. Compared with neighboring cities, Mountain View’s affordable housing fees are low. The city wants residents to comment on the topic using the new “Open City Hall” tool posted at mountainview.gov. The deadline to comment is Dec. 1. So far there are 13 comments, and most are in favor of raising the fees (five are for raising one or more of the fees, three oppose raising all of them and five are unclear or do not address the fees). The council is set to act on the matter on Dec. 16.
Resident Jeremy Hoffman wrote a long comment, saying the arrangement “represents a redistribution of wealth. Policy makers have the right and duty to enact such redistribution for the benefit of the community.” The strongest opponent of potential fee increases went unnamed, saying that “our rights as citizens do not extend to the right to an ‘affordable’ place to live.” “Affordable housing” can seem a subjective term. It is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) monthly housing payments of no more than 30 percent of a household’s income. Mountain View is currently advertising openings on a waiting list for “below market rate” homes funded by the affordable housing fees — to qualify, a household must earn between 50 percent and 80 percent of the 2014 area median income. For a one person household, that is between $35,700 and $49,050. For a family of four, it is between See HOUSING, page 13
Newcomer joins school board after election nail-biter GREG COLADONATO WINS INCUMBENT PHIL PALMER’S SEAT BY 100 VOTES By Kevin Forestieri
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ith all the provisional ballots counted, school board candidate Greg Coladonato can finally claim victory over incumbent Phil Palmer for a seat on the Mountain View Whisman school board. Palmer originally held a lead
INSIDE
over Coladonato, but slowly lost it as more votes were counted. Coladonato took the lead by the weekend after the election, and has watched it slowly grow over the last two weeks. Though Coladonato said the nail-biting part of the election is over for him, he still wants to wait until Dec. 2 before celebrating a victory.
“My fingernails are starting to grow out again and I’m sleeping much better,” he said. “The vote totals jumped around a lot but in the last week it hasn’t moved, and nobody expects it to move around anymore.” Santa Clara County election See COLADONATO, page 14
VIEWPOINT 15 | GOINGS ON 23 | MARKETPLACE 24 | REAL ESTATE 26
MICHELLE LE
Greg Coladonato appeared to be losing his bid for a seat on the Mountain View Whisman school board on election night, where he spoke with a producer at KMVT’s live event, but as votes continued to be counted, he pulled ahead of incumbent Phil Palmer.