BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Planning Commissioner George Lu today (May 28) announced his candidacy for Palo Alto City Council, becoming the second pro-housing candidate under 35 to enter the race.
Lu, 31, grew up in Millbrae as the child of immigrants and graduated from Stanford in 2014. He now works at Meta as a product manager and lives in the Mayfield neighborhood by California Avenue.
Lu has been on the Planning and Transportation Commission since last April. He said in his announcement that he’s “seen first-hand how challenging it is to move the needle” on issues like traffic safety and housing affordability.
“Our city deserves an efficient and responsive government,” Lu said. “If we work together, we can reduce traffic deaths, invest in our neighborhoods, achieve our climate goals, and ensure the viability of local businesses.”
Lu is endorsed by Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims, school board member Jennifer DiBrienza and two former mayors: Larry Klein and Gail Price.
Lu said on his campaign website that he wants to make it less expensive and less complicated for small businesses to operate in Palo Alto.
“When we lose businesses like the Nut House or CineArts theater, we don’t get them back,” he said, referring to a longtime bar on California Avenue and a movie theater at Palo Alto Square.
Lu said he wants to switch homes from natural gas to electric appliances, to make bike routes safer to school and to plan for more housing along San Antonio Road.
Four seats are up for grabs in the fall. Councilwoman Lydia Kou, 57, and Councilman Greg Tanaka, 49, can’t run again due to term limits.
Councilman Pat Burt, 72, has filed papers to run for reelection. Mayor Greer Stone, 34, hasn’t announced a decision either way.
Katie Causey, a pro-housing and pro-cycling member of the city’s Human Relations Commission, announced her campaign in March.
Causey, 30, said she wants to bring more community events to Palo Alto, like an LGBT+ Pride parade and celebrations on California Avenue for Nowruz, Diwali and Lunar New Year.
Causey was a board member for the Palo Alto Renters’ Association, which folded in with the nonprofit Palo Alto Forward last year.
Causey was appointed to the city’s Human Relations Commission in May 2023 after a group of housing advocates sent emails supporting her as a young renter who grew up in Palo Alto.
Causey has a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from George Washington University.
Causey is endorsed by Mountain View council members Emily Ann Ramos and Lucas Ramirez, East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio Lopez, former Redwood City Mayor Giselle Hale and state Board of Equalization member Sally Lieber.
“Lu has been on the Planning and Transportation Commission since last April. He said in his announcement that he’s “seen first-hand how challenging it is to move the needle” on issues like traffic safety and housing affordability.”
Well, duh. One only has to look at the price of land alone and think about what adding a mandated 2,000,000 NEW residents to the Bay Area will do to traffic safety, esp. with all the lane reductions!
Remember that it already costs almost $1,000,000 to build a unit of “affordable” housing.
“Lu said on his campaign website that he wants to make it less expensive and less complicated for small businesses to operate in Palo Alto. ”
Can’t wait to see how he waves his magic wand to reduce the price of LAND — forget about anything built on the land — and how removing parking downtown and on El Camino is going to help small business…
But common sense and the state and county deficits won’t stop the big developers from funding these fairy tales.