BY STEPHANIE LAM
Daily Post Correspondent
A former Los Altos mayor who once accused a Black Lives Matter activist of threatening her and tried to get the city to fund $8,700 worth of trips to out-of-state conferences, has pulled papers to run for a seat on the council.
Lynette Lee Eng, 64, is running to represent south Los Altos in the area around Grant Park. She will be up against Lucinda Langley-Andrews and Anky van Deursen. Councilman Pete Dailey, who lives in that neighborhood, isn’t running for reelection so he can run for the Valley Water board.
Lee Eng served two terms on the council from 2016 to 2024, including a one-year stint as mayor in 2018.
During her last term, Lee Eng was criticized by residents for claiming to have received “threatening” text messages from Keenan Moos. Moos was a Los Altos High School graduate and founder of Justice Vanguard, which organized local Black Lives Matter marches.
Moos had texted Lee Eng during a Nov. 24, 2021 meeting while council was voting on a proposal to have a third-party collect any complaints about the police.
Lee Eng abstained, saying she wanted to know what the proposal’s financial impact would be on the city.
In a text, Moos warned her that her name “will be all over the papers.” She told the council minutes later that she felt concerned for her safety and that of her family.
Moos, along with his supporters then spoke at council meetings and called for her resignation.
At the time Lee Eng said she had difficulties in expressing herself, and that may have led to a “misunderstanding” when she “tried to convey the anxiety” she felt after reading the texts.
Lee Eng also took heat from council in 2024, when she was the only sitting council member to get reimbursed for out-of-state travel, spending $8,737 on three conferences since the start of 2022, according to a report from City Manager Gabriel Engeland.
Lee Eng defended her trips as “educational experiences” that helped her become a better representative.
The city budgets $3,500 per year for council travel, according to Engleland. Council at the time accused Lee Eng of abusing the travel policy, and criticized her for attending the conferences without council approval.
Lee Eng was unavailable for an interview today (July 27) about her decision to run again. This post will be updated with any comment from Lee Eng.
Thank you for running again Lynette. As a Chinese female former Mayor and Council member, I feel your anxiety when attacked and the attempt of those to cancel those who stands for reason and practicality. Continue to be courageous, you have admirers and supporters.
I do also want to address the expense for attending conferences. As a former Mayor and Councilmember, attending conferences are part of attending to city business. It would be interesting to learn about the travel, lodging, and meal expenses of the other Los Altos council members as well, not just one targeted Councilmember.
Lynette, if I were a resident in Los Altos District 2, you have my vote! I urge District 2 voters to rise and vote for Lynette Lee Eng.
I’m not sure about all the details but it does seem like mayor Lee Eng was wrongly accused on some counts and that she was harassed by her colleagues.
She is outspoken and true to her ideals and I imagine represents what a lot of her constituents believe in! Good luck to Lee Eng!
Totally agree that Lynette Lee Eng is misrepresented and harassed (also bullied) several years ago. She is the most CARING community volunteer and well respected in a very diverse group of people in Santa Clara County! Local volunteers who have dealt with her really are impressed with her caring and thoughtful personality! Politics is ugly and nasty if blown out of proportion! Glad that Lynette Lee Eng has such courage and leadership to try to help our community in Los Altos. We need her leadership.
Glad that Lynette Lee Eng is running for City Council in Los Altos! Politics is so nasty and this news article is so misleading about Lee Eng is very misleading! She is the most kind and thoughtful community leader in Los Altos, as a founder of Grant Park Community Center and actively serving as a volunteer for our community—unlike the current 4 city council members in Los Altos who serve Special Interest groups (such big developers) and ignore local citizens’ interests. Lynette, THANK YOU for supporting our community in Los Altos! Los Altos resident for over 45 years
Lynette is an amazing lady! I’ll vote for her any day. She has integrity, morales and a brain! We need her advocating for us.
I have been fighting to FiX 2020 Prop19 before it went on the ballot. I met Lynette in the quest to save truly affordable family homes and small businesses. She is a connector of people generous of her time, effort and knowledge. You don’t have what she possesses without networking. 3 trips totaling $8737 is $2912 each on average. Has anyone traveled for much less out of State with air, auto, gas, food and hotel? I am sure she isn’t abusing the system like our Insurance Commissioner did with 48 Global Trips including a safari, 5 star resorts, limousines and security. From what I have seen of her, she donates her time to Seniors, historical preservation, housing, improving education and more. These are actions and not words. Some people are talking… she is working to make the world a better place.
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Lynette was unfairly bullied by the council majority, but she was ineffective in standing up to them. And at the end of her term, we all learned she had been bitten by the corruption bug, with those taxpayer-funded trips. She represented an important point of view (protect homeowners from the developers) but she lacked the skills to do more than make disjointed speeches that never moved the needle. She shouldn’t be running now. She’s just going to embarrass herself.
Such ridiculousness and nonsense. Lynette is the one and only Councilmember who remained local to her constituents. The other councilmembers have travelled and used taxpayer monies too, so they must be corrupt. Hey, lets submit PRAs to find out the travel, lodging, and meal expenses of the other councilmembers members, as well as, any and all communications to conspire to gang up against Lynette.
Lynette Lee Eng has my support. An advocate of homeowners rights and safe environment for the community, Lynette also devotes much of her time on programs that benefit seniors. I also appreciate that she considers fiscal impact before voting on proposals, benefiting us taxpayers. Thanks Lynette!
Why should we think she’ll be different if she gets back on council? It will be the same — always playing the victim. Never getting anything accomplished. Name three accomplishments she had on council. OK, name two. Alright, I’ll accept one. Name something she did that made this town a better place. Stumped? That’s why she won’t be reelected.
Of course she felt threatened. Around that time protesters vandalized then-San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s house with spray paint, writing “BLM.” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s home was splattered with red paint and sidewalk graffiti that appeared to be related to the BLM movement. One of the paintings displayed in a Justice Vanguard art exhibit showed a black panther eating a pig.
Lynette Lee Eng is a trailblazer that I am so proud of. She is a catalyst & dedicated her time to create Senior programs, historical preservation, housing and more. Gentle yet effective, she leaves her footprint in many facets of community involvement. She will effectively guide her District with her expertise, resolve, and kindness for a government excellence that’ll keep Los Altos a desirable place to live for our generation and beyond. I enjoy going to Grant Park senior center in Los Altos she found and the events there. Lynette is a longtime organizer and volunteer at Grant Park, is seen by the community as a representative of their interests.
Now more than ever, Los Altos needs Council leaders who will fight for what is best for residents instead of special interest groups.
This is an important moment in Los Altos history. Clearly there are those who don’t share Lynnette Lee Eng’s goals and values. They’d rather sling mud, and hope that it sticks. Dirty politics at its worst. The question is, WHO are they fighting for, and WHY?
These people want to distract voters from the REAL issues at stake. Are taxpayer funds and public assets in Los Altos being managed wisely? Are residents being meaningfully included before irreversible decisions are made? Is the current Council being transparent?
Over $2 million in taxpayer funds have been spent on a project that so many voters are against, they have risen up to put a measure on the ballot to stop it. And Lynnette’s foes are actually calling her “corrupt” for $8,700 in conference expenses? Without even considering the expenses claimed by others on the Council? $8,700 is nothing but a rounding error compared to $2 million. But that’s what Lynette’s foes want voters to focus on. Because of course they do.
The way that Lynette is being treated now shines light on why good people often don’t run for office. I admire her for being so courageous, and giving voters the OPPORTUNITY to vote for someone who will fight for what is best for residents. That’s worth GOLD. I encourage voters to not be distracted by the pettiness, and instead focus on the real issues.
Still waiting for that list of accomplishments Eng had in her four years on Council. Whining anout being a victim doesn’t count.
Lynette’s votes (she was not alone) on two cases let to legal costs to the city of $2,669,047 on the 40 Main Suit and $1.6M on 5G suits, for a grand total of $4,269,047 (not including staff time), thanks to Litigious Lynette.
And thanks to FOLA board members and Lynette, we have a five story building on Main St now.
So, that’s two or three accomplishments.
If the parking plaza initiative on the ballot this November passes, the taxpayers will face millions more in quixotic legal fees and settlement costs.
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Lynnette Lee Eng slowed down every council meeting. She was always confused about the issues and seemed much more under-prepared than the other council members. It’s time to move on from public office. She lost re-election for city council, then ran and lost for El Camino Healthcare District Board, and now is running again for city council. Hopefully the residents in her election area will choose someone better in this election.