The County of Santa Clara provides a wide range of public services that often fly under our radar yet are vital to the lives of millions of residents. From roads (Foothill Expressway) to public safety (Office of the Sheriff, Fire Department), healthcare and social services, there’s a lot to oversee as a member of the Board of Supervisors. A lingering budget deficit adds to the challenges. This is not a job for the inexperienced.
Two candidates, Mountain View Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga and former councilmember/state Assemblymember Sally Lieber, have that experience. But only one, Abe-Koga, gets our endorsement.
The race is for District 5 supervisor, a district that includes Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Simply put, Abe-Koga is in better touch with the local needs of our communities. She has paid her dues for 16 years on the Mountain View council. She’s battle-tested, serving as the city’s mayor during the recession of 2009 and during the pandemic in 2020.
Leading a prominent Silicon Valley city of 81,516, Abe-Koga deals locally with many of the same issues as the county: Homelessness, the high cost of living, lack of affordable housing and traffic congestion. She has offered Mountain View a level-headed, solution-based approach that has led to safe parking and housing for the unhoused and the construction of more affordable housing units in recent years than most county cities.
As a neighbor to Los Altos, she’s also familiar with some of the overlapping issues Los Altos has with Mountain View, such as the fight for survival for small businesses and fending off the rise in crime for safe neighborhoods.
She’s also well prepared, having been the first to enter the supervisor race. Abe-Koga has worked hard on her campaign for more than a year, knocking on doors and coordinating a real grass-roots effort. We’re confident she’ll also work hard as a supervisor. Vote Margaret Abe-Koga on March 5.
We also appreciate Lieber and her work. She will likely continue onto the general election with Abe-Koga. But we didn’t appreciate her leaving the Mountain View council in 2022 as she ran for and was elected to the state Board of Equalization. Now, she is prepared to leave that board if elected to supervisor. We like candidates to finish what they start.
