By: Esha Bagora

PR

Los Gatos residents will vote on Nov. 8 in the General Election to determine the town’s new town council. The town collects mail-in ballots from Oct. 10 to Nov. 7, and polls are open from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8. Voters will fill three seats from six candidates: Mary Badame, Rob Moore, Rob Rennie, Margaret Smith, Rob Stump, and Reza Tavana. For community members who are eligible to vote for the first time and even those who can’t, it’s key that you know about your local candidates and soon-to-be representatives. 

Mary Badame is running for re-election. Raised in Los Gatos, she graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1975 and is a local business owner. Badame has been a Planning Commissioner for the last eight years and has been involved in the community through various other LGPD programs. One of the key aspects of her platform is her continued opposition to the overdevelopment of Los Gatos. As her campaign mentions, “Los Gatos has substantially preserved its small-town character despite outside efforts to capitalize on it. Proposed planning/expansion could easily overshadow the reasons that [people] want to live and stay here.”

Rob Moore grew up in Los Gatos, attended Leigh High School, and graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA with a major in Political Science. Moore’s desire to make a difference locally stems from his work on several political projects in both Congress and in Africa. The latter inspired him to pursue a political career in Los Gatos. He added, “I just didn’t find that I was having a tangible impact in my community, [which] I wanted to do. And so after all of that, I now feel like I’ve really found my calling here. I work professionally at a local nonprofit, where I basically help young adults get back on the horse.” 

The current mayor of Los Gatos, Rob Rennie has served on the Town of Los Gatos Council for the past four years. He has represented the town on the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board and has a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth. Rennie is endorsed by many current and former elected officials from the Bay Area, but most notably Anna Eshoo, our congresswoman, and Jim Beall, a California state senator. 

Candidate Margaret Smith has served on four different commissions for the town, and has spent nearly thirty years working to improve Los Gatos. Additionally, the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce awarded her with the 2007 Business Person of the Year award, the San José Business Journal gave her the 2007 Woman of Distinction Award, and she was inducted into the local Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000. Smith hopes to improve town finances by “form[ing] a Structural Budget Deficit Task Force composed of stakeholders.”

Rob Stump hopes to alleviate the Town’s financial situation, should he win a seat in the council. A third-generation Los Gatan, Stump also graduated from LGHS in 1975 and has completed professional development programs at Cornell, CalTech and Harvard. Wildfire planning, traffic congestion, the local economy, and the care of our senior citizens are primary focal points of Stump’s campaign. 

Reza Tavana has worked extensively on the Parks Commission of Los Gatos. He has served as the chair of the commission since 2018 and joined the Los Gatos Planning Commission in early 2019. A graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Tavana hopes to expand his leadership into the higher offices of the town. 

As Los Gatos voters prepare to head to the polls this month and next, make sure to stay informed and know whom or what you are voting for. 

(Sources: LinkedIn, Campaign Websites for each Candidate)