CouncilmemberVacancyApplication
DueJanuary18,2023,by5:00p.m.
Submitapplicationto:
OfficeoftheCityClerk
500CastroStreet
MountainView,CA94041
[email protected]
PersonalInformation:
Name:________________________________________________________________________ Last First MI
ResidenceAddress: _______________________________________ Street City State Zip
HomeTelephone: ______WorkTelephone:_________________________ Email: __________________________________________
Emailand/orTelephoneforPublicDissemination:_______________________________ͺͺͺͺͺͺͺ ResidentoftheCityofMountainView:____________years Areyouthinkingof/planningtorunforCityCouncilin2024?YesᵼNoᵼUndecidedᵼ GeneralInformationandInstructions:
Applicantsmustbe18yearsofage,aresidentoftheCityofMountainView,andaregistered voteroftheCityatthetimeofapplicationsubmission.Pleaseattachyourrésumé,letterof interestandcompletedFairPoliticalPracticesCommissionStatementofEconomicInterests Form700tothiscompletedvacancyapplication.Yourletterofinterestshouldnotexceedone page.Topicstoconsidercoveringinyourletterofinterestare: WhydoyouwanttobeappointedtotheCityCouncil?
WhydoyoubelieveyouarethemostqualifiedtoserveontheCityCouncil? WhatisthemostserioussocialissueinMountainView? Ifappointed,howwillyoudevelopandmaintainarelationshipwiththebusinesscommunity? Answerstothefollowingsupplementalquestionsaremandatoryinordertobeconsideredfor thevacanĐLJ.
Bryant Ronit
Mountain View CA 94041
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[email protected]
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Attachment 2
CouncilmemberVacancyApplicantName:____________________________________________ Page2of4
Pleasefilloutallinformationcompletely.Attachadditionalpagesifneeded. HowmanyCouncilmeetingshaveyouattendedorobserved,andwhatwasyourlevelof involvement?
Whatdoes“CommunityForAll”meantoyou?
Ronit Bryant
I have attended a great many Council meetings, both in person and remotely. I periodically attended Council meetings as a concerned resident, neighborhood activist, and member of the PRC; as a Council member for 8 years, I attended hundreds of meetings. Since the completion of my second Council term in 2014, I have attended Council meetings to listen to the deliberations and advocate for positions dear to my heart (focused mainly on social and biodiversity issues).
What I love most about Mountain View is that it defines and prides itself on being a caring and diverse community of communities. I applaud all of the actions listed under the Community For All priority in the City's Strategic Roadmap - protecting the vulnerable and welcoming diversity.
In my eyes, Community For All really subsumes all the other priorities: such a community offers housing choices at all affordability levels, located in neighborhoods that are rich in services and parks and green spaces, designed to encourage interaction and support between neighbors. A Community For All has streets that are safe for people of all ages and all mobiility options (not focused on car-throughput) with green infrastructure and tree canopy; wide sidewalks that encourage walkability and contact between neighbors; abundant parks and meeting spaces where nature thrives and we thrive with it; services that we can access without needing to drive long distances. A Community For All is ready for climate change (ready for our next generations).
CouncilmemberVacancyApplicantName:____________________________________________ Page3of4
Pleasefilloutallinformationcompletely.Attachadditionalpagesifneeded. DiscussoneCityCouncilgoalandwhatitmeanstoyou. Whatareyourthoughts/ideasforimprovingthehousingsupplytomeettoday’s requirements(includingR3)aswellasplanningforthefuture? Ronit Bryant
I would look to adding densities to transit-rich areas and find ways to encourage new housing options, focusing on stacked units configured to add affordable and middle-income housing while enhancing the greening of the City with canopy, active transportation routes, and open spaces for neighbors to meet. Critically, increasing densities must bring increased services and open space to the neighborhood. We should balance the extensive acreage dedicated to cars with acreage dedicated to housing. The vast parking lots that often surround shopping centers and offices could accommodate many housing opportunities. Perhaps we could transform empty office buildings into housing - in the future, innovative building codes might require flexible buildings that could be easily converted from office to housing uses depending on the need. With the many thousands of housing units that the City must add to the housing stock, I would look to spread the new units through all areas of the City to avoid intensifying the differences between different parts of town. The R3 discussions may provide us with good answers. Form-based code would allow the community to define what characteristics of the built environment would result in the community we aspire to (livable, inclusive, sustainable).
Then we can figure out how such characteristics could be expressed at varying degrees of density.
Council has a goal/priority of Livability & Quality of Life; the actions listed under it are something of a mixed bag (I fully support all of them). For me livability and quality of life are expressed by the concept of the 15-minute city, where housing, jobs, and services are all easily accessible without needing to drive. Livability means stable housing, safe, canopy-shaded streets, parks and green spaces where neighbors can meet and children can be children and nature can thrive. Quality of life means strong neighborhoods where people know and support each other and live their lives sustainably so as to ensure a future for our coming generations. Quality of life means good design (of housing developments, streets, and offices), going beyond the bare minimum (build x units or build a roadway to carry traffic) to build community, beautify our environment, and elevate our lives.
Ronit Bryant
Mountain View, CA 94041
Local Government Service Highlights
• Mayor, City of Mountain View, 2010
• Council Member, City of Mountain View, 2007-2014
o Chair of the Environmental Sustainability Ad Hoc Subcommittee o Chair of the High Speed Rail Ad Hoc Subcommittee
o Member of the General Plan Update Ad Hoc Subcommittee o Member of the Youth Services Committee
o Member of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Executive Board • Parks & Recreation Chair and Commissioner (1997-2004 and 2019-current)
Community Service Highlights
• CSA Board Member (2016-2022) and President of the Board (2021-22) • Soil&Water Steering Committee Member (2018-2021)
• MTC (Mentor Tutor Connection) Board Member (2018-2021) • Mesa de la Comunidad Founding Member
• Mountain View Trees Co-founder
• League of Women Voters Los Altos-Mountain View Board Member and Co-director for Natural Resources (2005-2006)
• Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association Chair (2002-2004) and Newsletter Editor (1992- 1998)
• Landels, Slater, Graham PTA Board Member
• Landels and Graham PTA Newsletter Editor
• MVHS Site Council Member
• LMV graduate (Class of 1996)
Professional Highlights
• Technical writer/editor in high tech and pharmaceutical environments, 1996-2006 • Marriage, family, and child counseling intern, 1987-1989 • School psychologist, 1975-1980
Personal Background
• Came to California as an immigrant in 1980
• Have lived in Mountain View since 1983 as renter and then homeowner • Became a U.S. citizen in 1993
• Married for 42 years
• Raised three children who attended public schools
• Lived on four continents and speak six languages
• Avid gardener
Ronit Bryant
I am interested in being appointed to finish Sally Lieber’s Council term. I served two terms as a Mountain View City Council member (and won reelection in 2010 with about 10,000 votes). Since 2014, I have given my time and energy to the PRC and to local nonprofits focused on care for our most vulnerable residents and for our environment in a time of climate change. I wholeheartedly support the City’s Strategic Priorities and would be honored to help Council make significant progress towards these goals – and I believe I could do so.
My past Council experience includes working on the General Plan and on multiple Master Plans; navigating times of financial stress for the City; pushing for increased public input and listening to the voices of our diverse communities; and working collegially with Council members of sometimes diametrically opposed views. I have stayed informed about Council’s work and am very knowledgeable about the issues Council is working on. I would be able to contribute to a deeper and more rounded understanding of the issues and potential solutions. My particular passions for sustainability, biodiversity, and social justice would enrich Council discussions.
I will not run for re-election in 2024. Since Council will fill Sally Lieber’s remaining term by appointment, I offer my services now (rather than focusing on the PRC as I had planned). Selecting me could resolve the conundrum of making an appointment to an elected position.
The most serious social issue in Mountain View is the lack of housing affordable for individuals and families at all levels of income. We must improve on the current situation if our community is to be the diverse and caring place we have always been proud of. There is no silver bullet to quickly resolve a crisis developed over many decades. Using all available partners and funding sources (and experimenting with new housing models), the city must offer a range of solutions: ensuring that people at risk stay housed; offering temporary housing for people in crisis; focusing on very rapid re-housing; and, for the longer term, building sufficient permanent housing (both rental and ownership units). Without sufficient housing, our community is diminished. Too many residents must focus primarily on finding/keeping housing and cannot participate fully in civic life. Adding housing offers opportunities to increase sustainability (green infrastructure), develop active transportation alternatives, increase canopy, and build communities where neighbors know and support each other.
If appointed, I would tell the community that I am eager to meet with residents, nonprofits, and businesses, large and small, to learn what would help them thrive in Mountain View. The city is best served by having a broad range of businesses:
world-leading firms, innovative startups, family businesses, and small creative enterprises, all calling Mountain View home and working together to ensure a thriving community. I particularly look for help from the Chamber and community groups to facilitate connections with those who have not previously worked closely with the City and used its services. I hope to reach out and be very proactive in this area.