Sunnyvale City Council Candidates For District 6: Omar Din, Leia Mehlman & Charlotte Thornton

We invited all Sunnyvale City Council candidates to speak directly to the voters through The Silicon Valley Voice website. If you don’t know what Sunnyvale District you’re in, please check the City’s District map on their website.

We asked candidates to answer the following questions in 100 words or less:

1. What do you think is Sunnyvale’s major challenge?
2. What do you think is the major challenge for your district and how would you address it?
3. What’s the first motion you would make as a Councilmember?

Here are the candidates’ answers, unedited. We note candidates who chose not to respond.

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Omar Din

omarforsunnyvale.com

1. Sunnyvale has become too expensive and unlivable for many of its residents. The biggest issues we are facing are housing affordability, better infrastructure and reduced traffic, and responding to the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. I will fight for more affordable housing development and increase Sunnyvale’s housing stock. I will also advocate for better infrastructure through holding developers accountable by partnering with them to build the resources we need. I will implement the strategies outlined in the City’s Climate Action Plan 2.0. Finally I will focus on fiscal responsibility for balancing the City’s budget in the aftermath of COVID-19.
2. District Six faces many of the same issues felt citywide, however it also has more that it must focus on. District six does not have nearly the same level of resources available as the rest of the city. We have less retail and grocery stores here in the northern part of the city. Also when sea levels rise in the next 40 years, which is a problem we are locked into, part of district six will be underwater. I will advocate that we build more mixed use development within District six and create an action plan for sea level rise.
3. I will focus first on dealing with the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. We will need a city council that is both prepared to balance our city’s budget and respond to changing data on the pandemic. As the county and state say its safe to open up, I will ensure we are double checking the information and slowing down if necessary. If we are forced to back into lockdown I will advocate for public resources to assist working families and residents affected.

Leia Mehlman 

https://www.leiaforsunnyvale.com/

1. Our challenge at this time is COVID-19. It has major impacts on budgets, education, public health and businesses.  We will need to be creative in addressing how we plan future budgets and capital expenditures, while preserving the benefits and salaries of current city employees. We will also need to judge carefully the impact on city services and on programs which support vulnerable populations, such as Sunnyvale Cares. At present we are using some of our reserve funding to preserve these services, but we will need to identify other sources to avoid draining our coffers. I am hopeful that post-election the Federal response will be more meaningful and we can coordinate a rational strategy.
2. District 6 has two immediate concerns, one is rent stabilization for mobile home park residents, and the second is the lack of a continuous sidewalk on Tasman Drive. At present, we have initiated a temporary lane closure to provide a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists going to the local grocery store. The passage of AB 2782 will allow Sunnyvale to address the issue of rent stabilization. Once the moratorium on evictions is expired, we will also need to develop a strategy for dealing with vulnerable renters and the needs of landlords. This will need to be not only on a local level, but state-wide.
3. Currently I have initiated a study measure with the Sunnyvale BPAC to present to council action for the creation of a permanent sidewalk and/or bicycle lanes for residents along Tasman Drive between Fair Oaks and Lawrence Expressway. One of the first motions I would make, if elected, would be to petition the Governor to make permanent the accommodations for electronic participation in city meetings, as this has actually increased our public input and attendance for council meetings as well as for other boards and commissions. In-person attendance is a barrier to participation for many.

Charlotte Thornton

www.charlotte_thornton-works4u.org

1. Sunnyvale’s major challenge is managing COVID-19 while upholding individual human rights. I will form a committee of citizens from all backgrounds to inform our City Council re: COVID-19. To date, those among us that are still critical thinkers that value our God given and inalienable rights are being ignored by unelected health officials’ mandates. The City of Sunnyvale must be fully informed by our citizens as much so as it is informed by top down rule makers outside our jurisdictions.  Our city needs to return to its previous levels of education and economic activity asap.
2. A newly minted District #6 with our own elected representative will be in vain if the elected representative does not take enormous care and pro-active persistence to glean ideas, grievances, complaints, issues, opinions alongside brainstormed, iterated solutions by District #6’s people of all ages. I plan a multi-tiered approach of ongoing outreach to constituents of all ages and demographic. We will together make District #6 a shining example of highest standard civic involvement at the local level. Such is the basis of a republic vs democracy, the later being a structure that always ends in mob rule.
3. The Sunnyvale Police Chief is in violation of his Oath of Office which entails a statement under perjury to defend the U.S. and California Constitutions against enemies foreign and domestic.  To wit: “That we will not enforce civil immigration law, that was important for me,”said Ngo. As community sworn leader and exemplar of Law & Order to our community, Chief Ngo is endorsing sedition. without comment or oversight by our City Council Members nor Sheriffs.  As City Council Member District#6, I will move that Chief Ngo be in compliance with his Oath.

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