Mike Goldman
for Sunnyvale Mayor - 2020
Dedication - Experience - Leadership
Preserve, Expand, Improve: Libraries, Parks, Safety
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We are facing very serious crises with COVID-19 and the economic fallout. We need to act very cautiously in city finances so that we do not compromise public safety, parks, libraries and other things that make Sunnyvale a great place to live.
Please fill out the form below to let me know your priorities. You can also Email me at:
My Priorities
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Preserve and expand parks, open space, recreation areas,
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Greater resident involvement in decision making – e.g., citizen commissions on airplane noise and public safety;
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Prudent use of tax dollars – re-consider the proposed $373,000,000 Civic Center (more here)
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Allow only new construction that respects the character and traffic limits of local neighborhoods,
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Real solutions to climate change - e.g., requiring all new construction to be “net-zero” GreenHouse gas emissions,
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“Town halls” - promoting open dialogue between residents and city council members,
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Representing Sunnyvale to Sacramento politicians to ensure new legislation respects and enhances the good parts of Sunnyvale life.
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The background picture is Sunnyvale's Sunken Gardens Golf Course. There is pressure to close our golf courses since golf is becoming less popular. If closed, will they become high rise office buildings or a park?
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CAMPAIGN BUZZ
May 14, 2020
$150 Million Debt for New City Hall - Now!?
The artist's conception of what would be a new city hall looks very nice (don't they all?) but there a lot of questions that need answering.
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Amidst unparalleled economic uncertainty, we need to wait for clarity about city finances before going into debt for $150 Million with an additional $93 Million in interest.
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A simple add-on to the current city hall (as planned for the public safety building) with efficiency upgrades would do
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Why tear down the current city hall? It could be a gallery for local artists, meeting rooms for clubs, a teen center, etc.
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Why remove beautiful old trees and take green space on our civic center instead of putting it in an existing parking lot?
October 28, 2016
Video of Interest
"City Workshop" at http://MeetingTheTwain.blogspot.com/2016/10/civic-center-99-year-lease.html shows city staff and council fully intended to lease 60% of the Civic Center to private developers for 99 years. It is part of a blog post along with photo-copies of emails inviting city council members to view the plans of billionaire developer Jay Paul.
February 9, 2016
Fighting the Special Interests to Keep Our Green Space
In the Summer of 2012, City Council voted 5-2 to look at a 99-year lease of about 70% of the Civic Center in return for a new library from the developer. From El Camino to the entrance of the current library there would be four 6-story buildings. Along Pastoria would rise another high-rise apartment building.
Michael Goldman and Deborah Marks formed "Citizens of Sunnyvale for Parks and Green Spaces" (CSPGS) to inform people. After receiving many emails and letters the City Council backed off - for now. The threat of losing our 25 acres of green park-like Civic Center, acquired over many years, has not gone away.
That is why Michael Goldman and so many others worked so hard to get the 2016 Sunnyvale Public Lands Act on the November, 2016 ballot - the only way to protect our parks and fields from future City Council vandalism. A vote for Michael Goldman is a vote for parks and libraries for kids, families, and seniors.
April 26, 2020
Parks Still at Risk
All of us who put the 2016 Sunnyvale Public Lands Act on the ballot got a partial success. Because of that the City Council drew up a list of public lands that require a 5-2 vote of the Council to sell. That's a start. Let's finish the job by requiring a 50%+1 vote of the people to sell parks and other public lands.
May 14, 2020
Environment: A few years ago, Sunnyvale joined with other cities to form Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE). As a result, virtually everyone in Sunnyvale has electricity generated with zero Green-House Gas emissions (GHGe).
That was a good beginning but we have much more to do. We need to ensure that new construction has no natural gas hook-ups and get started on removing natural gas from homes and businesses. We need more public electric car chargers for apartment dwellers. We need to add storage for the electricity generated n the day. We should get more businesses and homes to install solar panels to keep up with demand growth and remove the threat of wildfires caused by remote power lines.
April 26, 2020
Housing Costs - Blog Posts
What I've been learning about housing:
Building more housing doesn't lower the costs:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/01/live-work-commute-2.html
Housing crisis or a transportation crisis:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/02/is-there-housing-crisis.html
Economists on effects on housing costs of increased density:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/04/urban-economics.html
Why growth doesn't go on forever:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/04/limits-to-growth.html
April 5, 2016
City Council Votes to Sell Raynor Park Activity Center with Park Priority Use
The City Council over-ruled the Planning Commission (appointed by the City Council) to allow the Stratford School corporation to buy the Raynor Park Activity Center and gain exclusive use to part of the park for most of the day. The money will go to a new library in the north side of Sunnyvale pitting one side of Sunnyvale against another. A simple $15 million bond issue would have given North Sunnyvale a branch library and preserved the Raynor Park building for the many kids (like mine) who did gymnastics and other activities there.
The real problem is a shortage of parks. If residents had more park land the partial loss of what they have would not sting so much. Of the $55 Million received in park mitigation fees since 2010, not a penny had gone to acquire park land by 2016. THAT is what has to be changed!
MICHAEL'S MESSAGE
Make Sunnyvale Green and Friendly - for Kids, Families, Seniors, Singles
Video below on blending cities and wildlife. We do not have to destroy what we love to to build what we need