Community organizer Erik Poicon announces bid for City Council

Longtime community organizer and advocate Erik Poicon has publicly announced his intentions to run for Mountain View City Council ahead of the November election.

With four seats up for grabs, the race is heating up as a growing field of candidates, ranging from well-established politicians to new contenders, vie for the chance to represent the city of Mountain View.

While a first-time City Council candidate, Poicon touted a breadth of experience serving the Mountain View community and wider region in leadership and advocacy roles, he said.

Poicon is president of the Silicon Valley Young Democrats and a community outreach specialist for Santa Clara County Library District. He also serves on the city’s Human Relations Commission, an advisory body that weighs in on economic, political and social issues.

“My whole thing has always been community engagement and wanting to observe, that people are being heard, but also that we’re providing action to what we’re hearing,” Poicon said.

As a community organizer, Poicon has been deeply involved in issues related to social and economic inequities, with a particular focus on helping underserved populations.

In 2020, Poicon worked with the county’s census office to make sure that hard-to-reach populations were included in the census so that they could have access to much-needed resources and programs. He also helped combat election misinformation at the time, he said.

About a year later, Poicon joined Community Services Agency (CSA) as an outreach worker and led the COVID-19 response team, as well as provided case management services to residents, many of whom were facing evictions and food insecurity, he said.

Poicon credits his lived experiences as informing his policy positions to help support underserved communities. He grew up in a family that struggled with housing and food security, but despite these hardships, his mother never gave up, he said.

“Todo en la vida se puede” or “Everything in life is achievable,” is a phrase that he often heard as a child, Poicon said. The life philosophy sustains him today and is a major reason for why he is running for City Council.

“Essentially, growing up, I wanted to provide a better community for my mother. And as I got older, a better community for all of us to ensure that we didn’t have to go through similar circumstances that I grew up with,” Poicon said.

For these reasons, Poicon has identified housing as a top priority in his campaign, noting that it was critical to work with community partners and stakeholders at the state and local level to ensure that people of all income levels have access to homes.

Poicon also wants to strengthen programs aimed at supporting public services and safety. Before the George Floyd protests, Poicon was an advocate for state legislation like AB 392 and SB 1421 to provide more oversight and transparency to policing practices to better protect communities of color, he said.

Poicon also wants to make sure that as Mountain View promotes its “city for all” initiative, it includes the people who makes those spaces possible, referring specifically to essential workers.

Supporting sustainable development and preserving green spaces to reduce carbon emissions also rank as high priorities, Poicon said.

On the campaign trail, Poicon plans to focus on a ground game, knocking on people’s doors to get his message out to voters. But he also wants to hear what people have to say – a position that defines much of his work in the city already.

“Making sure that people don’t feel left behind, that’s just been my career path essentially, and is continuing,” Poicon said.

Other candidates who have publicly declared intentions to run for City Council include: Mayor Pat Showalter, City Council member Emily Ann Ramos, Mountain View Whisman trustee Devon Conley, former City Council member John McAlister and Nicholas Hargis, a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.