Mountain View Voice November 2, 2018

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Delish Fall 2018

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 VOLUME 26, NO. 41

www.MountainViewOnline.com

650.964.6300

MOVIES | 19

Driverless cars OK’d for local streets WAYMO GETS PERMIT FOR UNOCCUPIED VEHICLES By Mark Noack

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elf-driving cars are already a regular sight in Mountain View and nearby cities, but the technology will be kicking into high gear starting this week. Google’s autonomous car offshoot, Waymo, announced Tuesday it had received permission from California regulators to begin piloting autonomous vehicles with no human in the driver seat. The company can now send up to 36 driverless vehicles onto public roads in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. The new authorization allows self-driving cars to operate without drivers at all hours of the day, along city streets, rural roads and highways. Waymo officials

say they will start with a limited geofenced area to begin testing, and will gradually expand it. Waymo’s permit, which it applied for in April, is the first of its kind granted by regulators with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, although driverless testing has already been approved in Arizona. The California permit took effect on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Self-driving cars have been navigating Mountain View streets for years, but they have been required to have someone sitting in the driver’s seat to take control if the autopilot system were to fail. The new testing phase allows the autonomous cars to be unoccupied, but companies would still be required to See WAYMO, page 10

MV Whisman incumbents outspent in school board race By Kevin Forestieri

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wo candidates seeking a spot on the Mountain View Whisman School District board of trustees this November — Devon Conley and Tamara Patterson — ramped up campaign spending in the weeks before the election, shooting ahead of the two incumbents. The latest campaign finance filings, covering Sept. 23 through Oct. 20, show that Conley has raised a total of $17,985 in her bid for the school board, significantly higher than Patterson, who reported raising $4,900 so far this year.

Trailing well behind is incumbent Ellen Wheeler, who is seeking her fifth straight term and typically runs low-cost campaigns. She filed forms saying she has raised and spent less than $2,000, so her campaign isn’t required to file detailed reports. Incumbent Greg Coladonato did not file any campaign finance statements for the period. Earlier this year, he reported rolling over $3,550 from a previous campaign. Conley’s campaign received a major boost from the political arm of the group Leadership See SCHOOL BOARD, page 12

NATALIA NAZAROVA

MOUNTAIN VIEW’S LITTLE MONSTERS Mountain View’s littlest residents were all dressed up and ready for Halloween fun at Saturday’s annual Monster Bash. Costumed kids — and adults — gathered at Pioneer Park for games and treats at the city-sponsored event. See more photos online at mv-voice.com.

Late contributions boost Mountain View City Council campaigns By Mark Noack

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ampaign donations are pouring in for John Inks in his bid for a third term on the Mountain View City Council. Just days away from the election, Inks reported $10,000 in new contributions, much of it from apartment owners and their advocates. The latest information on campaign donations was made available in a mandatory round of campaign finance statements released on Thursday, Oct. 25.

INSIDE

Inks, a Libertarian who has framed his campaign largely around his opposition to rent control, has apparently John Inks become the candidate of choice for a variety of stakeholders. Large donations include $2,000 from Tod Spieker, who owns 2,900 apartments in the region; $1,250 from Mitra Oaks LLC, a Los Altosbased apartment management

company; and $1,000 from the California Real Estate politicalaction committee. The California Apartment Association also gave Inks’ campaign $999, an amount just one dollar shy of the $1,000 limit that requires immediate reporting. The new donations put Inks at just over $29,000 in total fundraising, placing him with the head of the pack in the sixway race for three seats on the council. See COUNCIL CAMPAIGN, page 8

Indian innovation WEEKEND | 16

VIEWPOINT 14 | GOINGS ON 22 | MARKETPLACE 23 | REAL ESTATE 25


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