Palo Alto Council candidate profile: Brian Hamachek

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

Palo Alto City Council candidate Brian Hamachek is taking many positions that aren’t the same as the rest of the field or sitting council members.

For example, he said in an interview yesterday that he doesn’t want to get rid of natural gas in homes or allow homeless people to sleep in their cars in church parking lots.

Most residents wouldn’t support these programs if you asked them, he said.

Hamachek is also critical of City Manager Ed Shikada, saying that he pursues his own priorities rather than what council members or residents want.

“He needs to understand the city better,” Hamachek said.

Hamachek, 36, a software engineer, grew up in Palo Alto and has tried to get on city’s Planning and Transportation Commission three times. Council almost picked him the first time, but he didn’t get close on his second and third try.

Hamachek said two decisions by the city pushed him to run. First, Shikada told businesses to board up their storefronts and issued a curfew during the Black Lives Matter protests in summer of 2020.

“That was just a lack of common sense,” he said. “That was absurd.”

Instead, the city should’ve enforced its laws and defended the businesses, he said.

The second decision was council’s approval in June of the Castilleja School’s permit to rebuild its campus and expand enrollment. Neighbors of the school fought the project for five years, and council didn’t listen, Hamachek said.

“I’m running to try to restore the voice of residents and bring some sanity back to the city,” he said.
Hamachek said he wants the city to be more transparent. Around six years ago, he hooked up the Palo Alto police feed to the app Broadcastify so their transmissions would be archived and available online because he thought that would make officers more accountable. His feed is still the one that people can listen to.

Hamachek is not in favor of having police dogs, even for searches.

“There has to be a better way,” he said.

On housing, Hamachek said he wouldn’t want the city to waive its 50-foot height limit, but he said that may not be realistic because of a state mandate to build more housing.

Hamachek said he would close both California Avenue and University Avenue to cars. He said he wants to prevent businesses like the Old Pro, Mr. Chau’s Chinese Fast Food and Shady Lane from continuing to leave, and having more people walking around would help them.

He said he talked to some downtown business owners, and they told him that nobody from the city had ever come by and asked how they were doing.

He isn’t against the city on everything: He supports a business tax, and he would pursue a fiber internet project that council is currently considering.

“I’m someone who can make compromises, even if I don’t necessarily want to,” he said.

Hamachek is one of seven candidates running for three seats. The rest of the candidates will be interviewed over the next couple of weeks before ballots are mailed.