ATT 7 - Ralston Redacted Application — Mountain View City Council, January 24, 2023

Councilmember Vacancy Application
Due January 18, 2023, by 5:00 p.m.

Submit application to:

Office of the City Clerk
500 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
[email protected]
Personal Information:

Name:________________________________________________________________________ Last First MI
Residence Address: _______________________________________ Street City State Zip
Home Telephone: ______ Work Telephone: _______
Email: _________________________________________
Email and/or Telephone for Public Dissemination:______________________________________ Resident of the City of Mountain View:____________ years Are you thinking of/planning to run for City Council in 2024? Yes ▢ No ▢ Undecided ▢ General Information and Instructions:

Applicants must be 18 years of age, a resident of the City of Mountain View, and a registered voter of the City at the time of application submission. Please attach your résumé, letter of interest and completed Fair Political Practices Commission Statement of Economic Interests Form 700 to this completed vacancy application. Your letter of interest should not exceed one page. Topics to consider covering in your letter of interest are:

Why do you want to be appointed to the City Council?
Why do you believe you are the most qualified to serve on the City Council? What is the most serious social issue in Mountain View? If appointed, how will you develop and maintain a relationship with the business community? Answers to the following supplemental questions are mandatory in order to be considered for the vacancy.

Attachment 7
Councilmember Vacancy Applicant Name:____________________________________________

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Please fill out all information completely. Attach additional pages if needed.

How many Council meetings have you attended or observed, and what was your level of involvement?

What does “Community For All” mean to you?
Councilmember Vacancy Applicant Name:____________________________________________

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Please fill out all information completely. Attach additional pages if needed.

Discuss one City Council goal and what it means to you.

What are your thoughts/ideas for improving the housing supply to meet today’s requirements (including R3) as well as planning for the future? Councilmember Vacancy Applicant Name:____________________________________________

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Please fill out all information completely. Attach additional pages if needed.

Please submit your entire packet of documents to the Office of the City Clerk via email or hand delivery by January 18, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. Applications submitted incomplete and without a résumé, letter of interest and Fair Political Practices Commission Statement of Economic Interests Form 700 will be disqualified from consideration.

Late applications will not be accepted.

During the application period, the City Clerk’s Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. City Hall is closed on Monday, January 16, 2023, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Your application is a public document.

Please direct questions about the application process to the City Clerk’s Office at 650‐903‐6304.

READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SIGNING
I hereby certify that all statements made in this application are true, and I authorize investigation of all information contained in the application. I acknowledge that any false statements or misrepresentation on this application will be grounds for disqualification. _____ ____________ __________________________
Signature
Date

Mike Ralston
Mobile:

SUMMARY
Global Crisis Technology and Emergency Operations Management executive, with meaningful real-world experiences in new product introduction, operations analysis & optimization, and international technology-based disaster response.

Mike’s expertise sits at the intersection of Public Safety, Crisis Technology, and Business Operations. Starting as a research scientist and mechanical design engineer at NASA, his career spans public, private, and start-up domains, leading development projects from spacecraft to big-data to drones, and spearheading solution innovation programs within F500 enterprises and professional emergency response agencies. Mike also spent 14 years as a Firefighter, serving in many capacities including Technical Information Specialist for FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Task Force and Technology & Innovation Manager for the Menlo Park Fire District.

EXPERIENCE
Qwake Technologies, San Francisco, CA, 2017-present
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Head of Strategy & Product Management
Menlo Park Fire District, Menlo Park, CA, 2016-2020
(Acting) Crisis Technology & Innovation Leader
Community Crisis Management Program Director
Terraneos Resilient Crisis Operations, Mountain View, CA, 2013-2017 Founder and Managing Director
HP Enterprise/Vertica Analytics, Sunnyvale, CA, 2013-2015 Analytics Chief Technology Officer, Vertica Global Alliances Cisco Systems – Analytics Ctr. of Excellence, San Jose, CA, 2008-2013 Senior Manager; Internal Founder
ParadigmHill Mountain View – Non-profit Community Incubator, MV , CA, 2006-2009 Founder and Executive Director
NASA Ames Research Center – Mountain View, CA, 1990-1992 Research Scientist
Santa Clara County Fire Department, Los Gatos, CA, 2006-2016 V olunteer Firefighter, Fire Engineer

EDUCATIONUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonBS, Aerospace Engineering, 1990 Stanford UniversityMS, NCO Mechanical Engineering, 1992 University of California-BerkeleyMBA, Operations Management, 1999 SKILLS/CERTIFICATIONSLanguages: Spanish
Training: HSEEP - Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program, IncidentCommand/Emergency Management/EOC Operations, Structural & Wildland Fire Suppression,Disaster, Mass Casualty & Humanitarian Response, Technical Search & Rescue, EmergencyCommunication & Public Information Licenses & Certifications: Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Instructor, FAA Part 107 sUASPilot, California Firefighter CPAT, Public Information Officer Leadership: Executive Director, ParadigmHill Mountain View, Leadership MV 2006, LeadershipMV Board 2007, Mountain View Mediation Board & Mediator, Bubb School Site Council,MVWSD School Closure Select Committee, SMC Emergency Managers Association Board,Menlo Park Community Crisis Management Board Advisor, Menlo Fire District SafetyCommittee Michael Ralston - MV City Council, Letter of Interest
Councilmembers and Clerk, thank you for taking the time to consider my nomination.

I am a retired Firefighter and longtime active member of the Mountain View community. My wife teaches Spanish at and I currently run a start-up business helping save first responder lives. I participated in Leadership Mountain View about 15 years ago with thoughts of running for Council, but opted to continue contributing through my volunteer work while I raised my daughters. This opportunity has renewed my excitement about contributing what I believe are possibly under-represented experiences/background to the tough job the council is faced with.

Why do you want to be appointed to the City Council?
- I believe there are some important perspectives and interests that the council and city would benefit from including (African American property owner, Business owner, longtime volunteer), and I am at a juncture in my career where I can make a real difference by actually participating in the government. - The City Council does not currently fully reflect many of the community cultural and business perspectives that I believe will be critical to be voiced during the months ahead Why do you believe you are the most qualified to serve on the City Council? - Long time community leader - public safety, mediation, church, international mission trip leader, coach - Unique mix of education, local history, business acumen, and volunteerism - Walking billboard for the diversity that is MV (mixed heritage, property owner, rental unit owner, past renter, three kids through MV school system, public service retiree, business owner, dog owner, etc) - Through city leadership, councils, committees, etc I’ve gained a good relationship with the people and history and challenges of MV, and have spent the past 20 years directly volunteering in community literacy programs (MV Reads), non-profit business incubation (ParadigmHill MV), public safety (Santa Clara County Volunteer FF), mediation (Project Sentinel), and a tech startup reducing cancer in FFs). - Huge array of real and diverse leadership experience, coupled with a 20 year passion for this community, at a time when our city is being forced to consider innovative approaches to problems that are entangled between tightening economics, divisive social challenges, and looming technological realities
What is the most serious social issue in Mountain View? - The xenophobic political vitriol across the country has unfortunately taken root here, in the form of public racial intolerance and bold acts of vandalism and violence. With a black, differently-abled child in high school I see it every day.
- Rising intolerance and tacit acceptance of racist behavior - directly tearing at the diverse fabric that most describes this community. This is the poison that drives communities apart.

If appointed, how will you develop and maintain a relationship with the business community? - Making use of time-tested avenues such as the Chamber of Commerce, SV business councils, etc. - but also recognizing that a growing share of business interests in MV are not retail, nor brick and mortar, but rather a covid-borne distributed workforce from companies located elsewhere. - Develop concept of micro business park working spaces, and encourage the WeWorks of the world to embrace our downtown spaces
- Embrace the idea of Public-Private-Partnerships to combine interests and leverage overlapping goals - Encourage the city to take on a more active agent role in aligning employable community members with local opportunities. I’d like to see some form of internship matching for the tech sector, in the mold of the Day Worker Center

Schedule C - Income, Loans, & Business Positions – schedule attached Schedule D - Income – Gifts – schedule attached
Schedule E - Income – Gifts – Travel Payments – schedule attached /HDYLQJ2IÀFH
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STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC INTERESTS

COVER PAGE

A PUBLIC DOCUMENT
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FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION

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4. Schedule Summary (required)
Schedules attached
Schedule A-1 - Investments – schedule attached
Schedule A-2 - Investments – schedule attached
Schedule B - Real Property – schedule attached
Ź Total number of pages including this cover page:
-or-
FPPC Form 700 - Cover Page (2022/2023)
[email protected] • 866-275-3772 • www.fppc.ca.gov
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Ralston Michael
City of Mountain View
City Council City Councilor (Prospective Appointment)
■ Mountain View
■ 02 14 2023
3 ■ ■
Mountain View CA 94041
January 18, 2023 Michael Ralston
Digitally signed by Michael Ralston
Date: 2023.01.18 03:47:18 -08'00'

SCHEDULE A-1
Investments
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