Council candidate Deng drops out of debate unexpectedly

October 2, 2026 11:57 am
City Council candidate Yudy Deng. Post photo.

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A Palo Alto City Council candidate has dropped out of the city’s largest debate with less than 24 hours notice.

Yudy Deng, who is on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, said she had “a number of scheduling conflicts” and couldn’t attend Thursday night’s debate hosted by Palo Alto Neighborhoods.

“I’m disappointed to miss the opportunity to speak with your members, as I know how important our neighborhoods are to the future of Palo Alto,” Deng said in an email to the debate organizer on Wednesday at 7:21 p.m.

Palo Alto Neighborhoods is a networking organization for all 36 neighborhoods, founded in 1998.

The debate was yesterday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Mitchell Park Community Center. Former Councilwoman Hillary Freeman was the moderator.

Deng pulled out of the debate after receiving the candidate guidelines from the organizers. One guideline was that candidates couldn’t use notes.

She didn’t return a request for comment Thursday.

Resident Annette Glanckopf was upset with Deng for dropping out.

“I find it disrespectful and unprofessional to decline at the last minute. The organizers have spent considerable amount of time, effort, and expended their own personal finances to create a thoughtful meaningful evening,” Glanckopf said in an email Thursday.

Glanckopf said Deng has known about the debate for weeks, and Palo Alto Neighborhoods isn’t a member organization like she said.

17 Comments

  1. Thank you, Annette G for calling out Deng for rudely canceling at the last minute and for referring to the audience as “members” when PAN serves everyone in PA not just those who choose to join. Deng is obviously unaware that PA relies on a PAN and the neighborhood leaders to communicate with residents!

    Her ignorance of this simple fact shows that A) she didn’t do her homework, B) is unaware that PAN serves her own neighborhood and C) lacks the basic knowledge needed to serve.

    The fact that she abruptly pulled out upon learning she couldn’t bring notes shows how unqualified she is and her refusal to comment shows her lack of respect for the local residents her out-of-town backers paid so heavily for her to represent.

  2. This is disappointing and makes it more obvious that she is all about the outside money and influence. She will not have my vote.

  3. It’s very unfortunate that Ms Deng declined at the last moment without indicating there was an emergency or even urgent issue she needed to attend to.
    This shows a disregard for the organization, Palo Alto neighborhoods, and the concerns of those neighborhoods.

  5. A rose is a rose is a rose. An empty chair is an empty chair etc. At the PAN Forum the elephant in the room was the absent candidate Deng. The audience wanted to learn her views but were deprived of the opportunity. All they got was an empty chair with her name affixed to it. She is not a serious contender. Ed Lauing and Bryna Chang stood apart as the most qualified candidates in the race.

  6. I’m sure this decision was difficult.
    Ms.Deng, you obviously have much support in the area.
    I hope you continue to serve your community in compatible ways.
    All good luck to you.

  7. Not sure how obvious it is that Ms Deng has “support in the area” but what is obvious is thatv she’s raised the most outside money than any other candidate in Palo history breaking previous records set by her developer-friendly backers George Lu and Julie Lythcott-Haimsvboth of whom have endorsed her.

    As was said when outside money started pouring into Palo Alto, “we’re a community, not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder.”

    Obviously Deng didn’t want to jeopardize those sales by showing her ignorance in the debate witchout talking point notes.

  8. Did she provide a reason for this move? If the reason is that notes were not allowed (oh, boo-hoo) Ms. Deng confirmed concerns about her candidacy. Whoever advised Deng on this goofed. Annette G is a person who is highly respected by many Palo Altans; not a smooth move to snub an event she helped organize. Only an out of touch person would make that mistake.

    • It is xenophobic to suggest, even in jest, that an immigrant from China is taking orders from the current leader of China.

      • It’s not xenophobic… it’s a joke. If your first instinct is to clutch your pearls and scream “xenophobia” over a harmless jab, maybe develop a sense of humor before lecturing everyone else. Now crawl back into your myopic little bubble.

  10. Something feels very fishy here.

    Yudy Deng isn’t running for the State Assembly. She’s running for Palo Alto City Council. This is a local race, and there simply aren’t an endless number of “scheduling conflicts” that should prevent a candidate from showing up for one of the city’s largest candidate debates—especially with less than 24 hours’ notice.

    And let’s be honest about her current Parks and Recreation Commission position: if that role is being used as a credential for her City Council campaign, voters should also ask what tangible results she has actually delivered. Holding a commission seat means little if it amounts to performative involvement rather than meaningful leadership.

    Now, when the campaign is facing tougher scrutiny, she suddenly pulls out of the debate.

    That raises legitimate questions.

    Why avoid the forum where voters can ask difficult questions directly? What issues does Deng not want to defend publicly? And what else is she hiding behind?

    Palo Alto voters should take a serious look at this decision. Candidates asking for your vote should be willing to face voters, answer hard questions, defend their record, and explain exactly what they intend to do for the city.

  11. Deng is a Paper Tiger who unwilling to join the PAN Forum revealed her lack of courage. This Paper Tiger may have the highest financial donations but she is afraid of being challenged. Palo Alto needs strong candidates who care deeply about our town and are the most qualified. Vote for Chang and Lauing in November.

  12. https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/04/us/california-woman-charged-chinese-agent

    The latest arrest of Wanying “Heather” Zhang — an Irvine realtor accused by the FBI of acting as an unregistered agent of the PRC and surveilling the family of Taiwan’s president — should make people considerably less dismissive of questions about Chinese money, influence and political connections in California.

    And after Wang, Sun, and now Zhang, pretending that concerns about covert Chinese influence are somehow paranoid or xenophobic is no longer a serious argument. The federal cases themselves demonstrate that the threat is real. The appropriate response is not accusation without evidence — it is transparency, documentation and scrutiny.

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