Emily Ann Ramos announces run for Mountain View City Council

It has been well over a year since the Mountain View City Council appointed Emily Ann Ramos to join the dais, putting her in a position to represent city residents following the departure of former council member Sally Liber in 2022.

Ramos is now seeking another term on the council, and has announced her intentions to run in the November 5 election.

“I’m running to continue a lot of the work that I already have done,” Ramos said, identifying housing, environmental resiliency and civic participation as her top three priorities if elected to the council.

For years, Ramos has played a big role in some of Mountain View’s most significant housing policies. In her day job at SV@Home, Ramos has advocated for strong tenant protections, affordable housing preservation and anti-displacement strategies to protect the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Ramos also was at the forefront of the city’s rent stabilization program and helped get it off the ground while serving on the Rental Housing Committee. At the time, Ramos was one of the few renters on the committee, a position that helped give voice to a large portion of the Mountain View community, where 60% of the residents rent their homes.

Ramos plans to continue her track record of advancing supportive housing if elected to a second term on the City Council. “We did a lot of great work with the housing element and now it’s time to implement those plans,” Ramos said, adding that she was particularly interested in steering the city towards a community ownership action plan – something that the city is considering as part of its affordable housing preservation strategy.

Ramos also wants to tackle environmental resiliency and pointed to initiatives, like the city’s restoration of its coastal wetlands and the pollinator habitat project at Cuesta Park, to help the city adapt to climate change. “Climate change keeps on rolling,” she said, emphasizing the need to continue taking a proactive approach to addressing it.

The city can make a big impact, Ramos said, while noting that local government should be accessible and transparent to the average person.

“I’ve always believed that government is simply a structure for the community to make decisions for themselves, and I want to help improve civic participation for those who usually don’t get involved,” she said.

Typically, people don’t worry about local matters unless it impacts them directly, but even then, people struggle knowing how to address these issues, she said.

Ramos identified the city’s slow permitting process as a problem that affects small business owners in particular. Commercial rents are high and delayed permits exacerbate the problem, as restaurants and retail owners operate at a loss until they can open. The city can do more to streamline the process, Ramos said. “When people interact with the government, it should be easy. It should be enjoyable,” she added.

Ramos also is a strong supporter of working collaboratively with colleagues to produce the best outcomes for the community. She described herself as “the most optimistic person” on the council – an outlook that has helped her stay open to different ideas and perspectives, she said.

For her campaign, Ramos plans to take a similar approach, reaching out to the community to listen to and respond to their concerns.

“I have the knowledge and the compassion and the passion, in general, to take their concerns and move our city to what it’s always been, which is a community for all, a community where everyone is welcome and everyone can work together to build a really wonderful city,” she said.

John McAlister, a former Mountain View City Council member and small business owner, and Nicholas Hargis, a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, also have announced their intentions to run for City Council.