Early tallies reveal Mayor Larry Klein is ahead by a wide margin over Councilmember Russ Melton for a chance to govern Sunnyvale for the next four years, while Alysa Cisneros and Eileen Le were leading the race for City Council seats in Districts 2 and 6. Meanwhile Charlsie Chang, who is running uncontested in District 4, has comfortably secured her spot on the council.
As of Tuesday, incumbent Klein held a significant lead over Melton, with 74% of the vote. In District 2, incumbent Cisneros had about 70% of the vote, well ahead of former Councilmember Jim Davis, while Le in District 6 was racing ahead with 55% of the vote.
Klein, who has served as mayor since 2020, is known by residents for navigating the city through economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. His priorities for the upcoming years include initiating more sustainability, affordable housing and safe parking projects.
District 2, where Cisneros leads, encompasses neighborhoods and areas in downtown Sunnyvale near West El Camino Real. The councilmember prides herself on advocating for building more multi-family housing units, and improving Sunnyvale’s response to homelessness. Up north, District 4 covers several neighborhoods near Moffett Field. Le currently serves on the Sunnyvale Education Foundation and is a trustee on the Sunnyvale School Board. She is competing against residents Richard Lesher and Beverly Blau for a council seat.
In addition to candidates, Sunnyvale voters are also deciding whether to allow the city to issue general obligation bonds of up to $290 million to construct a new public library. Another city initiative, Measure F, proposes three changes to Sunnyvale’s charter, including removing voter registration and citizenship requirements for all city boards members and commissioners; replacing gendered references throughout the document with gender-neutral language and allowing council meetings to be held 24 times a year instead of two per month. The measure was failing Tuesday evening, with 63% of the vote.
In an effort to bring residents a new public space, Measure E proposes utilizing $290 million in bonds — a form of long-term borrowing authorized by the state to fund public improvements — for a new library near Sunnyvale City Hall. The city will repay the money using annual property taxes levied on all taxable property within the city. As of Tuesday, the measure was leading with about 58% of the vote.
Supporters of the project assert that the main library building no longer meets the demands of the city and has insufficient facilities. Measure E opposers. however, believe the taxable properties, which includes condominiums, townhouses and apartments, could potentially increase rent in the area. City leaders, have rebutted the argument, stating that the bond won’t increase rent or the properties’ market value.
Sunnyvale residents will also decide if the city’s charter needs updating. The most contested amendment of the three proposed includes removing voter registration and citizenship requirements for residents who wish to become board members and commissioners.
Supporters say this amendment will allow the city to leverage the best talent from the city’s diverse community. Several residents in opposition to the change say there is no city data indicating issues in recruiting, “qualified, talented and diverse applicants” under the current requirements. They also worry that removing the citizenship requirement, which ensures an applicant is a resident of Sunnyvale, will create a loophole for non-residents to apply.
However, supports maintain Measure F will not allow for non-residents to lead Sunnyvale. Commission service will always require Sunnyvale residency, which can be verified during the application process.
Measure F also proposes changing any “he” and “she” pronouns in the city’s charter to gender-neutral pronouns including “they” and “their.” Those in favor of the change state the document will be more inclusive. There is no formal opposition to the language change.
Finally, the measure suggests allowing the council to chose how to space out their meetings, so long as they are no more than six weeks apart and total 24 in a year. Currently the council needs to meet two times a month. Supporters of this initiative say this will be easier for councilmembers and residents to accommodate for religious holidays, school breaks and potential unforeseen circumstances while ensuring city business continues. There is no formal argument against the meeting change.
