League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Greg Unangst Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Mountain View

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council?

I have been actively involved in the community, the region. and the city for the past 10+ years. Since my retirement from Lockheed Martin in 2011, I have become more intensely involved in regional and city public policy issues.

• Mountain View townhome owner for 16 years
• 2000 to present: Stanford Community Committee for International Students: Homestay & Hospitality Programs
• 2005 to present: President + Alpha Villa Homeowners Association
• 2007 Mountain View Bicycle Survey Volunteer
• 2008 Member at Large + Mountain View Environmental Sustainability Task Force
• 2012 to present: Member + Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) Moffett Federal Field
• 2012 to present: Board of Directors + Friends of Stevens Creek Trail
• 2012 to present: Member + Citizens Working Group + 4 Cities Trail Alignment Feasibility Study
• 2013 to present: Chairman + Mountain View Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• 2014 to present: Member + Non-Profit Housing Association, Housing Advocacy Network & Santa Clara County Housing Element Working Group I also bring over 50 years of leadership experience starting with my high school team mates electing me Captain of the wrestling team, in spite of my protestations. My four years at West Point, Army Ranger School, and small unit leadership in Alaska and Vietnam has provided me with a deep understanding of how to lead highly diverse groups. This experience at forming cohesive groups and organizing them to achieve some amazing goals became invaluable later in my 33 year career in the aerospace industry as a program and engineering manager. I will apply this deep experience to finding innovative solutions to Mountain View's complex problems in an atmosphere of respect and consensus building.

2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them?

Since the beginning of my campaign in June, I have had the same top 3 policy priorities: housing, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and more parks and open space. The regional lack of housing combined with unprecedented job growth has introduced serious distortions into the fabric of our society here in Mountain View. We all suffer from increased traffic and congestion as more and more commuters travel great distances to get from their homes to their workplace. Employers, both large and small, are finding it increasingly difficult to hire and retain the needed staff. The younger generations, both tech workers and non-tech workers, are finding the area more and more untenable. And we are losing our lower income and middleclass families as our region becomes increasingly more unaffordable. We need to build more housing with the appropriate density near and along transit and near jobs, such as in NBS. Also, large employers need to help support housing, including BMR housing through public - private partnerships that build housing for all levels of their employees and their families near jobs. The City should remove barriers to building Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADUs) as a way of increasing the housing supply in the city. While Mountain View has made good progress in building bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, it has lagged behind demand. We need to shift our focus from a car centric attitude to a more balanced approach between cars, bikes, pedestrians, the handicapped and transit. We need to greatly increase the safety around our schools so that students and their parents feel secure in walking and biking to school. The efforts in calming traffic around Graham Middle School should serve as an example of how to increase the safety level around schools. As the population of our City grows, the demand for park and open space will increase. We must take every opportunity to grow our park acreage, particularly in under served areas. Even small parks are beneficial. The park at 771 Rengstorff should be expedited to make this beautiful space available to the public as soon as possible.

3. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole with groups' interests?

Interest groups must be listened to and given their due consideration, yet decisions must be made in light of the long term effects on all of Mountain View's diverse population. As a program manager I was constantly balancing the needs of customers (and sometimes different factions within the customer community), staff members, subcontractors, and management, all within the constraints of limited time and resources. Not everyone is completely happy all the time, but the long term objectives of the program must be achieved. In Mountain View the best long term interests of the community as a whole must be considered and decided upon. Mechanisms to improve community input such as what was recently done with the Minimum Wage debate should be utilized more often. Outreach to the residents is critically important to get people educated on the issues at hand so that effective community discussions can take place. But ultimately, discerning what course is in the best interest of the community is sometimes difficult. This is where my pragmatic judgment and long experience can contribute to the future of Mountain View.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 13, 2014 22:19
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