2026 Election: Questionnaire for MV City Council Candidates
IdaRose Sylvester's Response
1. Knowledge and priorities: What do you see as the biggest barriers to making walking and bicycling safe, comfortable, and convenient throughout Mountain View? What specific changes would you prioritize to address them?
The biggest barrier is still the lack of a truly connected network. All it takes is one stretch of someone’s biking or walking route to be unsafe, to create an unsafe and discouraging experience. This is personal for me. My husband was in a bike crash this year and the outcome could easily have been much worse, but I worked with our police department immediately afterward on ways to make that intersection safer, with improved signage and cones around construction. I am also a frequent pedestrian, and I have had more close calls than I care to count. Those experiences reinforce for me that small design failures can have very real consequences. And we should not be having so many small design failures, when we know what makes roads and intersections safe.
I would prioritize closing gaps in the bike and pedestrian network, creating safer crossings and intersections, more protected bike facilities, and much faster Safe Routes to School improvements. We already know where many of the problem areas are; we need to act faster, and not always study things too long or seek only the “perfect” solution, which leaves us with delays and imperfect solutions.
I also see walking and biking as part of a bigger transportation and climate strategy. People need real alternatives to driving for every trip: good bike and pedestrian connections, useful transit, frequent buses, and our free shuttles. And I’d like more green complete streets, with trees, shade, landscaping and stormwater improvements built into transportation projects from the start.
2. Judgement: Mountain View has made a number of changes to its streets in recent years, including
the California Street Complete Streets Pilot. Which changes do you consider successful, and which have fallen short? What lessons should the City take from these projects, and what measures should it use to evaluate the success of future street improvements?
I support Mountain View continuing to invest in safer streets, including more protected bike infrastructure. My concerns about projects like California Street are not about whether bike lanes are good; they are about whether the design works well for the whole street and surrounding neighborhood. Most people, including drivers and bikers, tell me they feel less safe now. As a walker who often crosses California, no improvements have been made to help me get across the street, not even crossing beacons, and in some areas, it’s harder for people to see me as I enter the crosswalks.
Overall, I think the traffic calming has been effective, although some adjustments could be made for peak hour traffic. I think the “green complete” part of the project is lacking, the parking confusing, the striping inconsistent, the green elements essentially missing, and too many driveways now hard to navigate safely. I have had a friend who has had two accidents because people can’t see his recumbent bike now.
The dying planter boxes, the lack of enforcement of vehicles in the bike lane and middle lane, and real resident and business concerns have created a project which is now giving all bike lane and traffic calming projects a bad name, and people often tell me we shouldn’t slow Rengstorff because California is a “failure.” Even though I find that characteristic to be unfair, it becomes the opening salvo against other projects, a public relations nightmare that can further slow future projects.
I think a takeaway lesson from this and other projects is we need more consistent design standards across projects, based on what we know works with our traffic patterns and also fits the green complete streets mindset.
3. Vision and city role: What is your vision for the future of downtown Mountain View? What would you like Castro Street and the surrounding downtown to be like in 5 to 10 years, and what changes should the City make in economic development, public space, transportation, land use, or other areas to achieve that vision?
I want downtown to be a place people genuinely want to spend time: green, active, welcoming and uniquely Mountain View, with deep respect for history. Castro should be more than a street without cars; it should feel like a great public space, with more trees and shade, comfortable seating, gathering places, natural elements, and programming that gives people reasons to stay. I envision a park-like atmosphere that soothes and welcomes people of all ages and abilities. In 5 to 10 years, I also hope we are no longer talking about how to revitalize Castro, and have actually done it.
Castro Street plays a huge role in our economic development. I want us to be more of a concierge for small businesses: we need predictable processes, responsive staff, and active support for local businesses, third places, incubators and uses that keep downtown lively throughout the day and evening. We need to be faster and far more flexible in how and what we permit and welcome more businesses in, including by actively working to bring more businesses downtown.
If we build more office space, it needs to meet modern needs, like coworking or flex space, and should always include ground floor accessible uses, including retail, but also open space and art. We shouldn’t have another Wells Fargo, sealed off from the public. More housing downtown, in the right places, will bring more economic development and make it easier for businesses to succeed. That housing should also provide public benefits, like open space and art.
Overall, I hope we can plant more trees, remove more asphalt, bring in more art, and add creative uses and not rely on old business models to keep Castro lively.
4. Leadership and handling opposition: Improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure can require reallocating space or changing how streets are used, which can generate opposition from some residents, businesses, or drivers. As a Councilmember, how would you approach that opposition while advocating for the changes you believe are necessary?
I would start with the problem we are trying to solve. If kids cannot safely get to school, if an intersection has serious crashes, or if a missing connection makes a bike route unusable, then we need to fix it. And sharing that data. Most of the time, people don’t understand the problem being solved when we are changing streets.
I also believe strongly in listening early, before decisions are made or even before plans move too far along. As a volunteer mediator, I have learned that people often have more common ground than they think once they are talking about the actual problem instead of defending a position, and I also hear that people don’t feel brought in early enough into our decision making process. I think we solve many concerns by changing that. We can also make many modifications when we listen early, which also reduces opposition. When we listen to how people use the roadways and what they need, we do a much better job balancing interests.
But listening does not mean requiring unanimous support. Sometimes safety improvements will require reallocating roadway or parking space, and I am willing to make those decisions when the evidence supports them, after carefully listening, and carefully explaining to people, what the choices we will make will help do for the betterment of all.