All nine Palo Alto City Council candidates convened at the 2024 Palo Alto City Council Candidate Climate Forum to discuss their environmental policy approaches last Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto. Four council seats are up for election as council members Greg Tanaka, Patrick Burt, Lydia Kou and Greer Stone have termed out.
The forum was hosted by the nonprofit climate justice group 350 SV Palo Alto Climate Action with assistance from the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition.
Candidates gave their opening statements before answering moderated questions surrounding affordable housing, transportation, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.
Here’s a quick look into the candidates and their environmental priorities.
Greer Stone, the current mayor of Palo Alto and four-year incumbent on the Palo Alto City Council, is seeking reelection with a strong emphasis on youth mental health and affordable housing. As a tenant himself, Stone has consistently fought for policies prioritizing affordable housing and renter protection and building more energy-efficient housing units near the San Antonio Expressway and El Camino Real Focus Area, according to his website. Stone also participated in undertaking the “80 by 30” goal, which aims to reduce 80% of the 1990 carbon emissions by 2030 per the Palo Alto Sustainability/Climate Action Plan.
When a moderator asked about prioritizing public transportation, Stone highlighted the need for more public electric transportation and infrastructure.
“I purchased an electric vehicle a couple of years ago while living in an apartment that doesn’t have [an EV charger], but I felt comfortable knowing that Palo Alto had invested in very robust EV infrastructure,” Stone said.
As a longtime community volunteer and mechanical engineer, Keith Reckdahl focuses on sustainable housing and transportation, according to his website. As the vice chair of the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission, Reckdahl has advocated for clustered housing near transportation hubs to reduce the need for cars and has also pushed for more sustainable building materials such as low-carbon concrete and wooden framing, he said. Reckdahl has also been a part of Palo Alto’s Parks and Recreation Committee for nine years, where he has worked on reducing water usage and limiting harmful chemicals.
Reckdahl would also like to incentivize the purchases of heat pumps, water heaters and affordable electric vehicles to limit natural gas usage.
“We’ve already put in heat pump water heaters, but we need to expand that to the whole house through electrification,” Reckdahl said. “The issue with EVs is much more difficult, and we really need to incentivize landowners to have EV charging for renters.”
George Lu, a product manager at Meta and the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commissioner, is a strong advocate for bike safety and infrastructure, according to his website. With a background at the e-scooter company Bird, Lu is familiar with transportation policies and is committed to creating safer bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, he said.
“We really need full buy-in on getting better transportation options as soon as possible,” Lu said. “We need bike lanes, we need bus access, and of course, we will also have our Palo Alto Link.”
Lu also supports transit-oriented, multifaceted housing, an expansion of home electrification, and Palo Alto’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, which he believes has been stalled for too long.
Olympic gold medalist and community organizer Anne Cribbs transitioned from swimming breast-stroke to focusing on community involvement in environmental sustainability in 1991. Cribbs said she would like to reinstate a city-wide “Leave Your Car at Home Day,” a discontinued initiative that ran through the 1980s in Palo Alto. She also said she would like to incentivize the use of public transport and spread personal stories of those who have benefited from switching from gas to electric appliances.
“Giving people a badge or a pass to ride for free on transit causes a lot of excitement about it, and many people who have never been again will try that and maybe come back again,” Cribbs said.
Cribbs was also the co-founder of the American Basketball League, the first professional women’s league in the U.S., which helped lay the groundwork for gender equality, she said.
Self-described innovative scholar and sociologist Henry Etzkowitz places a large focus on expanding tree canopy coverage and demolishing the Palo Alto Airport as part of his campaign. Etzkowitz hopes to convert the Palo Alto Airport into wetlands to reduce carbon emissions and ecologically benefit the wetlands, he said.
Etzkowitz also said he would like to harness solar energy by reopening Stanford University’s photovoltaic research lab.
“We haven’t moved to the next generation of technologies, and the next generation is green photovoltaics,” Etzkowitz said. “The current [microchip] production process is polluting. You wouldn’t want it in your city the same way we didn’t want we didn’t want chip production in Palo Alto.”
Doria Summa, a neighborhood advocate with 17 years of planning and land-use experience in Palo Alto, is running for City Council with a focus on affordable housing, community safety and environmental protection. According to her website, Summa played a key role in retaining the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park and affordable units at the President Hotel.
Along with supporting affordable housing, Summa emphasizes conserving and protecting Palo Alto’s tree canopy and promoting bike lanes. She is also passionate about increasing electric appliance usage to prepare for a day when gas will be an expensive luxury good, she said.
“We need to maintain our urban tree canopy, and we need to grow it. We particularly need to grow it in southeast Palo Alto, where we don’t have enough trees,” Summa said.
As a former Palo Alto mayor and leader in transportation and environmental policy, Patrick Burt’s climate policy focuses largely on increasing general electrification. As a board member of both Caltrain and Valley Transportation Authority, Burt specifically plans on electrifying Palo Alto’s city vehicle fleet and even Palo Alto Airport planes.
“We are in the midst of a reliability and resiliency strategic plan, a funding strategic plan, a communication strategic plan, a distributed energy strategic plan, and all those together are going to take the path to meet the ‘80% by 2030’ goal,” Burt said.
Burt also plans on achieving Palo Alto’s “80 by 30” emission reduction goal by expanding public transportation and incentivizing landlords to invest in energy-efficient appliances, he said.
As a housing advocate endorsed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Katie Causey said she would like to prioritize cost-effective housing and ensure marginalized communities are not left behind in the transition to electric appliances. Causey has previously worked for local nonprofits that support affordable senior living.
Causey currently works as a community organizer for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, where she advocates for safer streets and accessible infrastructure for both bicyclists and pedestrians.
“We need to get a lot more people using public transportation to meet our Sustainability and Climate Action Plan goals,” Causey said. “To do that, you need the infrastructure. That means we’re strengthening our plans, particularly our long-term plans for El Camino Real. ”
Causey also expressed her support for setting a sunset date on natural gas, a point in time when it will no longer be used.
As a longtime Palo Alto resident and current Planning & Transportation Commissioner, Cari Templeton has centered her campaign on climate action, transportation and increased community inclusivity, she said.
In her current role, Templeton advocates for increased bike safety and bike lanes, especially for young children, she said. Templeton also would like to expand free bus passes for youth so they have the opportunity to explore their community, she said.
“I think we can work on ways to make [public transportation] more common here,” Templeton said.
The Palo Alto City Council election is on November 5. You can register to vote here and learn more about the candidates in the 2024 Municipal Election Guide.
