|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Steven Lee discusses city issues with the Palo Alto Weekly on Sept. 16. Video by Palo Alto Online.
Steven Lee likes to push for reform, even if that means ruffling a few feathers at City Hall.
Well before protests over police brutality and racial injustice spread across the country in June, Lee had been advocating for more transparency in the Palo Alto Police Department and more funding for mental health and homeless services.
As a member of the city’s Human Relations Commission, for which he concluded his term in August, he helped revise police policies to comply with the 8 Can’t Wait campaign and lobby the city to ban sales of vaping products, which it did last December.
Lee has demonstrated, again and again, that he is comfortable fighting the status quo, whether it’s challenging police brass over the department’s policies on de-escalation (which he played a leading role in revising in July), criticizing city staff for downplaying allegations of misconduct and discrimination against the nonprofit Downtown Streets Team (which he argued demand more scrutiny), and admonishing the City Council for its failure to aggressively address the city’s housing shortage.
Unlike Templeton, who prizes collegiality and collaboration, Lee believes tense, difficult conversations are necessary for real progress. One idea that he has championed is construction of affordable housing, particularly teacher housing, at Cubberley Community Center, a concept that has garnered some community support and plenty of opposition.
“If we fail to provide housing for our teachers, we are doing a great disservice to ourselves, our kids and future generations,” Lee wrote in a Weekly opinion piece in May 2019. “Teacher housing isn’t just a perk or benefit, it’s a community resource that benefits us all, and it doesn’t have to come at the expense of recreation and community space.”
Lee also wants the city to spur more housing construction by rezoning commercial areas and transit corridors to allow more height and density and by allowing property owners in single-family zones to build duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes.
“These are housing options that actually blend quite well into our neighborhoods and most people probably wouldn’t even notice any differences from the street,” Lee told the Weekly.
A big obstacle to progress, he says, is a City Hall culture that he believes resists change and takes far too long to get anything done. He was pleased to see the City Council approve Palo Alto’s first “safe parking” program for vehicle dwellers last month, which will offer space for up to 12 vehicles at a parking lot near the Baylands. He notes, however, that his commission had been pushing the council to increase its support for the city’s homeless population since at least 2017 and that other cities have proceeded much faster.
“It has taken us three years to get to a 12-spot pilot program,” Lee said. “In the meantime, we’ve seen programs in Mountain View, East Palo Alto and Redwood City.”
The program in Redwood City, he noted, took just seven months to put together.
The city’s tendencies to move slowly rather than act quickly, and to favor small steps over comprehensive solutions, are problems that Lee says he would like to address.
“That’s a frustration that I sense, not just from myself but from members of the community,” Lee said. “That’s why I’m running. I think Palo Altans are ready for bold, progressive, responsive leadership.”
Police reform is a key area of interest for Lee, an attorney who currently works at Playstation. The council’s work on 8 Can’t Wait reforms, he said, is just a first step. He wants to remove the “binding arbitration” clause from the city’s contract with its main police union, which is up for renegotiation this year. The clause, which is common in police contracts, has hindered the ability of cities across the nation to discipline or remove officers for misconduct. Lee said he would not vote for a contract that includes binding arbitration.
Rather than hire more officers, the city should invest in social services and address the “root causes of crime,” including homelessness and mental health programs.
He wants to see a system in which an officer would be accompanied by social workers and mental-health professionals when responding to nuisance calls and low-level crimes, a strategy on which other council candidates concur.
“Public safety is not about how big our Police Department is and how many officers we have,” Lee said. “That’s very much a limited and reactionary approach to public safety.
‘I think Palo Altans are ready for bold, progressive, responsive leadership.’
Steven Lee, City Council candidate
“The discussion needs to include … How do we invest in low-income, minority communities?” Lee, who lives in Midtown, is also interested in reducing the influence of money on local politics. While he enjoys a list of endorsements that includes Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and school board members Ken Dauber, Shounak Dharap and Jennifer DiBrienza, his campaign has capped contributions at $1,000 and has not accepted any donations from developers, law enforcement associations or for-profit corporations.
On Sept. 21, Lee made an unusual announcement that he is no longer accepting campaign contributions, having reached his goal of raising $45,000. In a statement, he said that he wants to begin a trend of spending less money on Palo Alto council races.
“No one should be able to buy disproportionate influence by donating thousands of dollars to a City Council candidate,” Lee said in a statement. “If we are serious about campaign finance reform and beginning a trend of less money being spent in local races, it starts with each one of us and with me.”
Read profiles of the nine other candidates:
• Rebecca Eisenberg: Swinging for the fences
• Lydia Kou: Playing zone defense
• Raven Malone: Seeking social justice
• Greer Stone: Keeping it local
• Greg Tanaka: Following the money
• Cari Templeton: Ready to listen
More election coverage:
• VIDEOS: Watch our debate and interviews with the 10 City Council candidates in Palo Alto
As I said at PTC this week, the bay area prides itself on being a progressive hub but our local elected bodies don’t often exemplify that political philosophy. I’m glad Steven Lee jumped in to be that voice!
I so appreciate Steven’s voice in the community. He has progressive values and puts forth practical solutions, often that have already been tested in other communities.
Steven Lee is a hard working, smart, kind , person. As a Palo Alto Human Relations Commissioner, he asked tough questions that the community needed answers to. He was always there to listen and cooperate. As a fellow Commissioner, I found his energy and compassion for all community members inspirational.
I am incredibly grateful for Steven’s forward-thinking and passion to advocate for and support EVERYONE living in our community. As a Human Relations Commissioner, he actually listened to the community by inviting us to the meetings — and took action. He is respectful, smart, and knows how to push the envelope to actually get things done in our city. What most impresses me about Steven is that he cares about those whose voices are typically not heard in our city — especially from the disabled and disadvantaged residents. His voice and passion are needed on the council and I hope my neighbors and fellow Palo Altan’s will vote for him. Keep up the good work, Steven.
Defunding our police would not seem to be a monumental mistake to the candidate. Voting for him would be!
What does “being a progressive” mean in this day and age? The D party of today looks nothing like the D party 10 years ago. Or five years ago. Does being progressive mean embracing the BLM organization? We already know from FB – their page – what that means. I do not know what a progressive is in this time period. A Bernie want-a be? I know that is a dog whistle to those who know but somehow all of the stories are getting mixed up.