Yoriko Kashimoto - Mayor of City of Palo Alto

Name: In Office: Address: Telephone: Website:

Yoriko Kishimoto 2007 - Present 251 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 650-323-5590 www.cityofpaloalto.org

Upon her election as mayor in 2007, Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto brought with her a deep commitment to both environmental leadership and economic development.  Creating a walkable, bike-able community in Palo Alto and a sustainable transportation network in Silicon Valley has been one of her top priorities. Under her leadership, the Palo Alto City Council adopted Climate Protection as one of its top four priorities.

Prior to becoming Mayor, Kishimoto served on the City Council Finance Committee, which recommended and later adopted a goal to have Palo Alto’s utilities attain 20% renewable energy purchases by 2017. In addition, she has carefully reviewed each development project coming before the Council and insisted on as full a mitigation as possible through shuttles, bike/pedestrian facilities or project size reduction.

Snapshot of Cool Achievements

• 2007: Shepherded Council adoption of Climate Protection as a top-4 Priority.
• 2007: Recruited nearly 20 elected official colleagues from throughout Silicon Valley to trade in four wheels for two, and take the Cycle-To-Work Day pledge.
• 2007: Proposed the creation of an Environmental Coordinator position, to coordinate the City’s environmental initiatives and support the Environmental Commission.  Position was created and filled as of July 1, 2007. 
• 2007:  Hosted, with Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss, a Walkable Community Workshop in Palo Alto.
• 2002:  Palo Alto became the first city in Santa Clara County to be certified as a “Green Business.”
• 2002-2006:  Served on Valley Transportation Authority Policy Advisory Committee (VTA PAC), acting as Chair 2005-2006. During this time, she advocated for a sensible and cost-effective transit spending plan to serve the entire county. VTA trimmed its staff and costs, added useful services, and maintained its commitment to bicycle and Caltrain services.
• 1993-1999: Treasurer and Trustee, Hidden Villa, a nonprofit offering environmental education to over 50,000 visitors per year from the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

A Cool Quote

“The city’s commitment to slashing its greenhouse gas emissions and accommodating additional residents and workers without jamming already packed roadways poses a formidable challenge...The path I propose tonight is through partnerships and collaboration, and a focus on innovation.  The path I propose is also a walking path. Let a ‘walkable community’ be one symbol of the next level of our green economy. Walkable communities create a thick web of community, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve our health, don’t pollute and are economical. ..Walkable communities are fine-grained, deeply rooted, diverse places where humans and our natural environment co-exist in a complex harmony and balance.”