My ranked choice of Palo Alto’s ten candidates (although we can choose four):
Rebecca Eisenberg
Powerful presence as novice reform candidate. Stanford grad with Harvard law degree; would raise the game of the other six electeds. She plausibly claims skill in negotiating outcomes in a contest where others settle for merely listening. With her industry background, for example, taking PayPal public, she has the chance to be like Gary Fazzino and Sid Espinosa in terms of bringing Valley know-how to local issues.
2. Greer Stone
Mentored by former mayor Karen Holman, teacher in the district that groomed him, nipped in his previous bid, but this time Greer could win. Also an attorney, he brings a social conscience to leadership.
3. Raven Malone
My respect for Black Lives Matter elevates this person onto my list of ballot picks, but with reservations. Starting with the cognitive dissonance between her career in defense contracts and her stance on social justice.
4. Lydia Kou (I)
Lydia is flawed as a leader and cannot brush off the cynical view that she’s a realtor working on name recognition for personal gain. She was elected as part of a flawed sea change but ultimately failed “new residentialist movement”. She was elected on a platform actually co-authored by Tim Gray and I (in my case, with advice from Tom Jordan) two cycles previous.
5. Steven Lee
Steven Lee is seriously flawed but a more defensible choice than half the field. I asked him to distance himself from anti-Semitism characteristic of “the Left” (and locally Rebecca Parker Mankey, who berated a Jewish Trump supporter), but got lip service or no reply. No one to my knowledge has advanced directly from HRC to Council (though Claude Ezran has contributed significantly to our community during and post-term).
Seems oddly cold and disconnected from her opportunity; as a commissioner, she is blameworthy for the circumstances she claims to confront. There’s plenty of tapes to judge her by, but I still suspect she was seated to displace more activistic candidates, like Rebecca. She worked for Google, but not as a founder. (As in, she’s no Stacy Savides, Jon Rosenberg, Alan Eagle or Woj-Brin — and I’ve met them! My Gunn mafia…)
8. Pat Burt
Burt is personally responsible for the decrepit state of our affairs, and our inability to self-govern, and the real estate rout. He personifies the corruption described in the Grand Jury Report. I liked his praise for the Obama book, although I have not read it. He’s frail looking but it’s hard to believe he’s grown out of his bullying former self. Move on, buh-bye!
9. Greg Tanaka
Somewhat personal response but Tanaka is a delusional liar when he claims that his office hours prove he listens to his constituents. One, he proved he did not listen to me by cutting me off mid sentence. Tanaka is an an amoral compass that points towards power, and kowtows. He mumbles. He dissembles. He practically slithers. He’s a fraud professionally and publicly. He’s a threat to self governance and community. His re-election would be an indictment of our system. He’s not the whole swamp, just a tank of it.
10. Ajit Varma
Considering how much I deplore Tanaka and Burt, this guy had to work hard to earn my cellar. His favorite book is by a loud mouth new rich capitalist monster; he basically thinks Democracy exists to fuel Big Business. This man epitomizes the dark side of the proliferation of the semiconductor industry.
Mark Weiss, founder of Plastic Alto blog, is a concert promoter and artist manager in Palo Alto, as Earthwise Productions, with background as journalist, advertising copywriter, book store returns desk, college radio producer, city council and commissions candidate, high school basketball player, and blogger; he also sang in local choir, fronts an Allen Ginsberg tribute Beat Hotel Rm 32 Reads 'Howl' and owns a couple musical instruments he cannot play
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 
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