Four years ago, gay Mountain View City Councilmember Chris Clark was required to step down due to having served two back-to-back, four-year terms on the governing body. The youngest person ever to serve on his seven-person council when elected in 2012, Clark was the first, and so far only, LGBTQ member of the Silicon Valley city's council.
Under his city's term limit rules, Clark, who turns 41 next month, could have run for a council seat in 2022. But he opted not to challenge the incumbents, his former council colleagues, who were up that year.
With two of the four City Council seats on this year's November 5 ballot open, Clark decided to jump into the race. He is one of nine candidates seeking the seats, which are voted on citywide.
If elected, Clark would once again be the sole out member of the council. He could also seek a fourth term come 2028. Part of his reasoning for wanting to serve again is continuity of knowledge on the council, as the current members will all be hit with the same term limit rule either this year or coming election cycles.
"I was on the fence about running again," Clark told the Bay Area Reporter during a phone interview this month. "But a bunch of folks encouraged me to run, and I realized I missed it."
Two years ago, he was named to the city's planning commission, reviving his direct involvement in development issues impacting Mountain View. Advocating for more housing being built, including homes affordable to those in the middle class, is a top area of concern for Clark, who intentionally made it his first priority on his campaign website.
"Housing affordability is a perpetual issue here in Mountain View," noted Clark, who has been a homeowner in the city since 2012.
The state has given the city of more than 81,000 people a target of constructing 11,000 units of new housing by 2030. With the downturn in the local economy, including tech industry layoffs, and developers faced with increased costs to build, Clark said it is unclear if the number will be reached.
"Right now, it is going to be more of a struggle just from where the economy is right now to meet those goals," said Clark, noting the city itself doesn't build housing but puts "the frameworks in place" for developers of both market rate and affordable housing to do so. "Hopefully, the economy turns around."
Clark grew up on a farm along the Mississippi River on Illinois' western border with Iowa. He has lived in Silicon Valley since 2000 in order to attend Stanford, which he graduated from in 2005 with a degree in political science.
He moved to Mountain View in 2008 and has worked for several tech companies. He is chief operating officer at OpenResearch, formerly Y Combinator Research, though is taking some time away to focus on his campaign this fall.
For eight years he worked at OpenAI, as its first COO then its head of nonprofit and strategic initiatives until stepping down in the spring. The company has been at the forefront of advancements in artificial intelligence, something Clark has been asked about by voters as he campaigns.
He told the B.A.R. he is proud of the work he did at the company, in particular helping it sign leases for office space in downtown San Francisco. It did so as other companies were leaving the city's financial district post changes in work from home policies brought on by the COVID pandemic, he noted.
"It was good to feel like we were one of the growing sectors in San Francisco and to be able to help with some of what was going on there," said Clark. "Hopefully, things will continue to pick up as the economy improves."
The health crisis hit just as Clark was in his final year on the council. His last meeting was held via Zoom, which he said, "felt a little strange."
His two former colleagues who are now also termed out of office, Councilmembers Margaret Abe-Koga and Lisa Matichak, have endorsed him this year.
"I am eager to jump back in," said Clark. "A lot of projects I started working on my last four to six years got put on hold during the pandemic. I am eager to get back in and work on some of those."
Also among his early endorsers is gay former Santa Clara County supervisor Ken Yeager.
"I am so excited that Chris decided to run again. He was much too young when he was termed out of office," Yeager, the first LGBTQ person to serve on his countywide board and the San Jose City Council, told the B.A.R. "With a few more years behind him, he will be even more effective on the council."
Congressmember Anna Eshoo (D-San Jose) is also supporting Clark's candidacy.
"Chris Clark is an unwavering champion for Mountain View," stated Eshoo, who is retiring from Congress this year. "Throughout his 15 years of dedicated public service, he has earned a reputation for judicious leadership and consensus building. I am proud to endorse him."
One highlight of his tenure as a councilmember was when Clark, at the time serving as Mountain View's mayor, met then-President Barack Obama when he landed at the city's Moffett Field. A fellow mayor ribbed him about how much longer Obama had spoken to him.
"I think President Obama talked to me for 64 seconds," recalled Clark.
He plans to march this Sunday in the Silicon Valley Pride Parade with a contingent. When he spoke with the B.A.R. Clark had yet to decide which one.
"I won't be a one-person show," he said in terms of having his own contingent.
His appearance at it is part of his ground game for his campaign. While Clark told the B.A.R. he feels positive about his electoral chances, he added he isn't taking anything for granted.
"We won't leave anything to chance. We are going to play here to win, obviously," said Clark.
With LGBTQ issues, particularly involving transgender youth at schools, coming under renewed attack, Clark told the B.A.R. he looks forward to once again providing leadership for the local community as an elected official.
"Having a visible queer person on the council who is also committed to working closely with our schools and youth was really important. I am proud of that," said Clark, who led the push to have his city annually fly the Pride flag. "I hope to continue that here in Mountain View and Santa Clara County."
Other council races with LGBTQ candidates
There is at least a sextet of LGBTQ candidates seeking council seats on the November 5 ballot in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, following the decision in the spring by gay Morgan Hill City Councilmember Rene Spring not to seek reelection.
In the South Bay, bisexual Palo Alto human relations commissioner Katie Causey is seeking a council seat, while queer Sunnyvale City Councilmember Alysa Cisneros is running for a second, four-year term. Cisneros is being challenged by government consultant Jim Davis for her District 2 seat, while Causey is one of nine people running for four citywide council seats up this fall.
While he fights in court against perjury charges due to allegedly leaking a confidential 2020 grand jury report about the city's contentious dealings with the San Francisco 49ers over the football team's stadium built in Santa Clara, gay City Councilmember Anthony J. Becker is seeking a second, four-year term in his District 6 council seat. Two people are running against Becker, whose trial has faced repeated delays and is set to be assigned to a new judge on September 9. (Becker has pleaded not guilty.)
On the Peninsula two out councilmembers are both seeking second, four-year terms. Bisexual South San Francisco City Councilmember James Coleman, serving this year as mayor, is facing a challenge from university finance manager Avin M. Sharma for his District 4 seat. Queer, nonbinary Chicanx Redwood City District 3 City Councilmember Lissette Espinoza Garnica is being opposed by public health professional Isabella Chu.
Garnica is officially launching their reelection campaign at 10 a.m. Saturday, August 24, at Redwood City's Andrew Spinas Park. After hearing from several speakers and the candidate, attendees will be asked to canvas the homes of voters.
"Going door-to-door is a crucial part of our outreach strategy and we need your help to come out on top, especially since we are facing opposition," wrote Garnica in an emailed invite to supporters.
Correction
Last week's column should have reported that gay San Francisco Treasurer-Tax Collector José Cisneros is the first and only LGBTQ man to serve in one of San Francisco's seven citywide municipal elected positions. His lesbian predecessor, Susan Leal, was the first LGBTQ person to do so and, to date, the only out woman elected to such a post. The online version has been updated.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on LGBTQ issues being front and center at the Democratic National Convention.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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