The window to enter Palo Alto's November City Council race closes Friday, Aug. 7, at 5 p.m., with four candidates competing for three seats that will shape the city's response to a $17.1 million budget deficit, nine pending housing projects, and a surveillance camera contract under audit.
Because Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims is not seeking reelection, the deadline is expected to extend to Wednesday, Aug. 12, assuming Lythcott-Haims does not file by Friday. That five-day extension would give any late entrants additional time.
Who's running
Two incumbents and two challengers have filed so far:
- Mayor Vicki Veenker, first elected in 2022, is seeking a second four-year term. A patent attorney from Indiana, Veenker received the most votes of any council candidate that year.
- Council member Ed Lauing, who served as mayor in 2025, filed for reelection in early July.
- Bryna Chang, chair of the Planning and Transportation Commission and a lifelong Palo Alto resident, was the first challenger to file. "It's frustrating when we do a lot of work and that message doesn't get through to City Council," Chang said in a May interview with Palo Alto Online. "That's one of the big reasons I'm running."
- Yudy Deng, a Parks and Recreation commissioner appointed in 2024, immigrated to the U.S. at 27 and previously served on Bellevue, Washington's parks board. She was PTA president at Ohlone Elementary and works in investment relations for a real estate platform. "It's very personal to me, because I'm an immigrant," Deng said in June when announcing her candidacy. "I've always been passionate about civic engagement and building communities."
Lythcott-Haims announced at the Monday, May 11 council meeting that she would not run again, saying they wanted community members to "know that there is an open seat available."
What the winners inherit
Whoever takes office in December will face immediate decisions on several fronts:
Budget: The city's general fund stands at $311 million, but Chief Financial Officer Lauren Lai told the council that a structural deficit of roughly $17.1 million, driven by falling sales tax revenue, will take years to close. The council has already cut crossing guards and park irrigation to trim costs.
Housing: Nine developers filed projects under Senate Bill 79 during a two-week window before local restrictions took effect July 16. Planning Director Jonathan Lait confirmed the projects total 341 units and roughly 395,310 square feet, clustered near the downtown and California Avenue Caltrain stations. At the June 15 council meeting, Veenker supported dropping emergency ordinances that could have blocked those filings, saying she believed "our legal risk outweighs the risk associated with having one or maybe a couple of applications that get filed in that short window," according to Palo Alto Online's July 23 investigation. Nine projects came in instead.
Cubberley: A half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot would fund improvements to the Cubberley Community Center campus, including purchasing seven additional acres from PAUSD. City-commissioned polls show voter support hovering around 50%, and the measure needs a simple majority to pass.
Flock cameras: The OIR Group, the city's independent police auditor, is auditing Palo Alto's 30 Flock Safety license-plate cameras. Results and a potential vote on the $93,500-per-year contract are expected after the council's summer recess ends Monday, Aug. 10.
How to file
Candidates must be registered Palo Alto voters, collect 25 signatures from city residents, and file a Declaration of Candidacy and Form 700 in person at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters office at 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2, 3rd Floor, San Jose.
Vote-by-mail ballots begin going out Monday, Oct. 5.
