Ummm. It says a lot about all 3 not having any endorsements.
Sorry incumbents. More reason for a house cleaning.

@Buster: I don't understand your comment. The incumbents have lots of endorsements. None of the community leaders have backed any of the other three. The house cleaning should remove people that somebody likes with people that nobody likes?

I think that Tom Means was elected the first time with no endorsements so I guess it's possible.

I don't think your comment is correct either. Greg Davis says "I don't want to be in anyone's pocket". Come on! This is Mtn View City Council, not the White House.

So, you don't yet know enough high powered people to get any endorsements...fine. But, don't try to muddy the waters of the incumbants.

I use endorsements as a way to judge the candidates, when I am not able to go to a debate or don't yet know where they stand.

Endorsements don't influence me to vote for someone, but they can influence me to not vote for someone.

I prefer a candidate with endorsements. It means he or she knows how to play the political game and thus can make things happen. I agree with Buster-this isn't the White House and I don't think an endorsement automatically means the candidate is in someone's pocket-- it means she's connected.

Endorsements are overrated but it does say something about a candidate that seeks endorsements from political groups that have clear agendas to impose on residents. The environmental groups and the public unions have clear agendas on what they want their candidates to support.

So let me get this straight..People are confused that someone may run for office on their OWN credit,so they can try to make a change for their community without having to repay for someones endorsements.

Try to learn something about the person.. not who supports them.

> Incumbent Jac Siegel's list
> ... includes former City Attorney Michael Martello
To be flaunting such an endorser, what does that say about the
candidate? Will NOT get my vote.

In "someones pocket"? Get a little perspective!

Endorsements show that a candidate has some tie in and involvement with their community. The fact that the two candidates with very strong ties to a company with MAJOR political interests to be protected in town are looked at as somehow above the fray shows how ridiculous this discussion is.

A $200 check and an endorsement puts you in someones "pocket"? Seriously Mr. David?

Linking endorsements with "being in someone's pocket" shows a lack of experience and understanding of how politics work at the local level. I'm leery of candidates that make such simple deductions; its expected that the public may make jump to conclusions, but I expect more from potential City Council members.

Endorsements indicate the level of connectedness a candidate has with the political landscape. Think of it as networking references.

The newcomers not having endorsements indicates they do not have established relationships with the major players in City politics.

Newcomers are nice because they can bring a fresh perspective to the table, but IMO, the current Council has done a tremendous job and requires tweaking at best, not a wholesale rewrite.

All three incumbents have served the community well, are respected within Mountain View and by other communities and organizations. The new candidates have no community service experience, no community connections, no true understanding and thus... no endorsements!

If a candidate:
(1) is a newcomer to the community and/or
(2) doesn't have a track record of service in the community and/or
(3) refuses to gain/list endorsements of fellow community members (endorsements can come from neighbors, you know!)

then it's pretty arrogant and unrealistic for them to expect residents to vote for you.

Remember, you're asking US to vote for YOU. Give us a reason!

Endorsements by fire or police unions for Abe-Koga gets her a No vote from me. Salaries and pensions are out of control. $350,000 for a police chief which is more than that of San Jose? Forget it.

Agreed, whoever sits in the City Council seats after the elections should be fully aware that the issue of salaries and pensions for City employees, and how they dominate the City budget, is going to be the defining issue and determining factor whether they are re-elected.

The contracts for each of the unions will be coming up due in the service terms of the next City Council, so I'll be watching to see what significant steps are taken to address this 800 pound gorilla in the room.

Hey Neighbor - Yes you Mr. Observer. Before you speak get the facts straight. The police and fire union have nothing to do with how much the Police Chief made this year. He is in management. He was paid so high because he was working as the police chief and fire chief doing two jobs. It was explained well months ago. The City Manager saved this city a ton of money by not jumping in and hiring a fire chief for over a year. Now that there is a fire chief the police chief salary has dropped down to the industry standards. Remember the unions and cities did not get us into the economic mess. The banks and housing market did. This topic would not even come up five ten years ago when every business complex in town was occupied and silicon valley was the place everyone wanted to be. Don't bag on city workers...they have made this city a nice place to live...everyone from a grounds keeper to the city manager have been doing a great job with less then what is needed to do their jobs.

Thank you for the explanation on the Police Chief's compensation, but I don't see how that justifies the inflated salary. Many of us in the private sector have seen our workloads increase exponentially as fellow coworkers were laid off and not replaced. I have yet to meet anyone who has received an increase in their salary, because they were now carrying someone else's workload.

Let's clarify something, I don't blame public employees for the collapse of the stock market or the recession. But its clear that funding for public employees is making up a growing portion of the City's budget, and that without reform it has and will continue to cause deficits.

The plain simple fact is that the pensions and medical benefits of most public employees, as outlined in existing contracts, are not sustainable. The roaring economy made possible by the dot com boom and the real estate boom masked the unsustainable nature of these contracts, but now its in glaring relief.

In the end, there are really only 2 options out of this crisis. Either we deal with the issue now and slowly correct things so that the City's budget becomes sustainable, or we become another Greece and allow irresponsible public spending to continue to grow, under the guise of "fairness", until the whole thing falls apart.

I think our City's employees and leadership do an exemplary job of developing and maintaining the city, but we still need to live within our means.

As the incumbents for City Council rake in endorsements from community leaders and groups like the Sierra Club, Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, Firefighters Association, Police Officers Association, League of Conservation Voters and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party attention should be given to who they will be representing. Will they be representing the citizens of our city or special interest groups? There is a verbal expression used in industry that states "If You Always Do What You Always Did You Will Always Get What You Always Got". I see there is an article indicating the council has approved expenditures for a Butterfly Garden. While this might be nice one would wonder why they are wasting their "TIME" on this when there are so many "MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES" to address. To date what kind of response or action plan has any of the city council members communicated to Mountain View residents regarding the report from the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury which concluded employee costs for our city continues to grow at an unsustainable rate. Neither our city council nor any member has come forward with a action plan addressing this issue. I believe the reason for this is because most of our cities residents are living the good life. Because of this I feel the City Council members are hoping the citizens will forget about this issue. For reasons stated above I will be voting to throw out the old and bring in the new. When voting please keep this in mind...........JUST THINK ABOUT IT"......

In the private business, would anybody hire someone without references?

Hey Neighbor - Mr. Hardin....First understand I believe our first responders are doing a good job. I believe everyone who puts themselves in harms way should get a far wage and benefits. I believe your statements are true, "the police and fire union have nothing to do with how much the Police Chief made this year", "he is in management", "he was paid so high because he was working as the police chief and fire chief doing two jobs", "it was explained well months ago", "the City Manager saved this city a ton of money by not jumping in and hiring a fire chief for over a year". I wonder who sets the industry standards for salaries? I think it's great that you realize that we have an economic mess. Does it really matter if the banks and housing market caused it? What should be focused on is a plan on how to fix it. It's appears you do not work in the private business sector. If the police chief was able to handle both jobs for over a year do we really need both? When the City Manager combines both positions into one then we can say he did a good job saving a ton of money. As hard of a pill as it is to swallow maybe it's time to start restructuring and redefining city employees job descriptions and responsibilities with a goal of reducing costs. Let me give you an analogy. You are a manager of a company that makes widgets. Your manufacturing facility is inside a large building. You light the whole building but use only half. You have noticed your electrical costs have increased and sales have dropped off. You need to reduce costs or layoff employees. You decide to turn off half of the lights and cut you electrical by half. You discover the company is still making the same number of widgets at reduced cost. Did the company need all of the buildings lights on or were they able to get the same amount of production with half of the lights on? Restructuring employee job descriptions and responsibilities to reduce costs is happening everyday in the real world. The first thing is realizing if change doesn't come about the cities economic situation will only get worse. The second is drafting a action plan and begin implementing it. In my opinion this is what our city council should be doing......."Just Think About It".........

Hey Just asking.......Your comment is a very good one. The only difference is in private industry someone can be released, let go or terminated in less time than it takes to park your car..................."Just Think About It"....................

Oakgree Commons / Rengstorff/Calif Neighborhood

As one of the volunteer Sierra Club members who work on political endorsements, and specically on the 2010 Mtn. View race, I can tell you that the Club bases it's endorsements on a candidates record and their personal philosophy on a range of environmentel issues. We have residents serve on endorsement teams and have volunteers helping identify local issues. We never expect a candidate to be perfect on all environmental issues and we do look for true leadership. We endorse candidates who we think are leaders, who listen to their residents, (and not just one side of the issues) and plan for a healthy future for all the residents of the city, now and into the future.

We never expect that candidates will vote our way in the future. We know we need to 'maked the case' when environmental issues come before Council. There is no quid pro quo.

We happily endorsed Margaret Abe-Koga and Ronit Bryant for Mtn.View city council as they have been tireless leaders for all of us. While we did endorse Jac Siegel 4 years ago, we did not endorse him this time as his position and his votes over the last four years on housing, transit and related impacts on climate change were not in line with Sierra Club policy.

Sincerely,

Ann Schneider
Chair, Loma Prieta Chapter Sierra Club
Political Committee
Lead Mtn. View endorsement Team