INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Winter Home + Garden Design JANUARY 9, 2015 VOLUME 22, NO. 50
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MOVIES | 19
Siegel, Showalter and Rosenberg take seats on City Council JOHN MCALISTER CHOSEN AS MAYOR, SHOWALTER AS VICE MAYOR By Daniel DeBolt
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t was an emotional evening Tuesday night as three City Council members stepped down, three new members took their place, and a new mayor and vice mayor were chosen. After spending eight years on council each, Jac Siegel, Margaret Abe-Koga and Ronit Bryant said farewell, before newly elected members Pat Showalter, Lenny Siegel and Ken Rosenberg took their places on the dais in front of a crowd of supporters. Then, in a pair of unanimous votes by the new council, it was decided that John McAlister would serve as mayor, replacing Chris Clark, and Pat Showalter would spend her first year on the council as vice mayor. The selection for the honorary
Tom, 52, became homeless a year and a half ago after living in Mountain View for 20 years.
Homeless woes in affluent Mountain View HOW SILICON VALLEY’S HOMELESS POPULATION STRUGGLES TO MAKE DO WITHOUT SERVICES Story by Kevin Forestieri, photos by Michelle Le
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arly Monday morning, Tom staked out a spot behind a 7-Eleven in Mountain View, keeping a close eye on three bags stuffed with all of his belongings. Unable to find work or an affordable place to live in the area anymore, the longtime Mountain View resident says he’s been homeless for a year and a half, and it’s been tough getting by.
INSIDE
“I had a routine life (here) for 20 years, and now I’m on the street,” said Tom, who asked that his last name not be used. Tom, 52, told the Voice that he ran into trouble when the property owner of his residence died and he was forced out by the new owner. He said high rent costs in Mountain View combined with difficulty See HOMELESS, page 10
John McAlister
Pat Showalter
positions followed a longstanding tradition that members rotate in based on seniority and who received the most votes in the election. Showalter was the top vote-getter in a crowded field of candidates on the November ballot. “I believe the Nov. 4 election may mark the beginning of a new era of Mountain View politics,” said Lenny Siegel, who stated that he would continue to push for the changes he called for during
Lenny Siegel
Ken Rosenberg
election season: balancing job growth with housing growth to help solve the area’s housing crisis. A key issue during the election was whether to allow a large new neighborhood to be developed near Google headquarters in North Bayshore. The new members all support the idea, while the outgoing members had voted against it in 2012, and came See CITY COUNCIL, page 6
Community shuttle hits the road By Daniel DeBolt
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here are still a few bugs to work out, but the few who rode the city’s new free community shuttle on its maiden trip Monday morning gave it a thumbs-up. The shiny new Google-donated electric shuttle arrived for the first time a few minutes past 10 a.m. to pick up passengers at the downtown train station on Jan. 5. There was little fanfare, as the official inaugural ride isn’t set until a ceremony on Friday at 11 a.m. at the downtown train station. But, under a new community shuttle sign at the bus loop at the downtown transit center, Alltrans staffer Megan Huff enthusiastically greeted the first passenger, a woman who didn’t want to comment but jumped on just to check it out and ride the full route.
“I’m excited, I’ve been looking forward to this,” said resident Cheryl Walterskirchen, who boarded the shuttle on Grant Road, near El Camino Hospital with her dog and bicycle.
“It’s quiet,” she said of the electric shuttle. “I was disappointed it didn’t go to Mountain View High School but that was the decision they made and I underSee SHUTTLE, page 7
DANIEL DEBOLT
Passengers board the Google-donated shuttle on Monday.
VIEWPOINT 14 | WEEKEND 16 | GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 21 | REAL ESTATE 23