BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council candidate Julie Lythcott-Haims wouldn’t support a ballot initiative on whether to get rid of natural gas in the city.
“I don’t think voters should get to decide on whether we’re going to listen to scientists about saving the planet,” she said in an interview.
Lythcott-Haims said she would lead by example and be a “galvanizer” who motivates people to get on board.
“We’ve got some tough decisions, and we’re going to need leaders whom residents look up to,” she said. “I think I can be that person.”
The city is at a “grid lock” when it comes to housing and separating the road from Caltrain tracks at four crossings, and the Cubberley Community Center is falling apart, she said.
Lythcott-Haims said she would come up with an exciting vision in these areas that both residents and investors want to be included in.
When it comes to power outages, she said she would also rally people around coping that some blackouts may be necessary.
“We’re in a tough strait, and I want us to band together — not put our heads in the sand,” she said.
Lythcott-Haims said she would try to get reports from the police auditor on the council’s agenda for a discussion, rather than just an informational report. She doesn’t think police dogs should be used to bite people.
Lythcott-Haims said she wants to leave the small details up to city employees, leaving council to talk about issues of human rights, values and what is proper in Palo Alto.
On housing, she said she wants to look at projects that have a mix of market-rate housing and affordable housing so developers will build them. Fully affordable housing should be reserved for specific populations, like people with disabilities, she said.
Lythcott-Haims, 54, has lived in the Green Acres neighborhood with her husband, two young adult children and her mother since 2000. She used to be a practicing lawyer and a dean of freshman at Stanford, and now she is an author and a public speaker.
Lythcott-Haims supports the business tax on the ballot, and she would support a higher rate. Palo Alto has plenty of money and should be able to fund all of its services, she said.
Lythcott-Haims said she wants Palo Alto to build a fiber internet network to compete with AT&T and Comcast, starting on her street.
Her public speaking gigs moved online during the pandemic, and she said people were shocked to hear she had slow internet in Palo Alto. Internet is as necessary as roads and lights these days, she said.
She calls Latinos “browns”! Why would I vote for somebody who calls me and my family that!