Berman for state Assembly
Marc Berman is clearly working hard to get things done in Sacramento. And he is.
The incumbent state Assemblyman for the 23rd district (including Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View) had 13 bills signed into law last year, another 17 this year. He’s authored or co-authored bills that range from election reforms (including deep fake depictions of candidates) to gas-powered leafblowers and lawn mowers (a ban on sales, effective this year).
Effectively representing constituents in the key areas of housing, education and the environment, we think Berman, finishing his eighth year in office, deserves another term.
Understanding that representatives in the Assembly run every two years, and that it takes at least two years to ramp up, Berman is now at the point where he has built alliances and can move legislation more effectively.
Like Berman, challenger Lydia Kou started her political career on the Palo Alto City Council. We appreciate her concern about cities losing local controls under Sacramento housing mandates. We also like her pragmatism – she herself sees spending the first two years learning on the job. But Berman offers results.
We like his overall objective of creating opportunities for all his constituents to enhance their quality of life. But we challenge him to be more physically present in our local community.
He’s still your best bet on Nov. 5.
Becker for state senator
State Senator Josh Becker doesn’t really have any competition in our District 13. Los Altos resident Alex Glew is a token candidate representing the Republican party, but even he is not taking the campaign seriously. We reached out to Glew by phone and email last week, but did not get a response.
Given that, Becker gets our endorsement almost by default as he seeks another term in the Nov. 5. election. We like Becker with his focus on the environment and education. And specific to Los Altos, we appreciate his securing funding for city of Los Altos decarbonization efforts. But as with Berman, we would like to see him connect more with our communities by attending more local events. If Joe Simitian can do it, so can Josh.
