A plan to improve Mountain View’s biodiversity and urban tree canopy got the greenlight last week, marking a major environmental milestone for the city. In a unanimous vote, the City Council adopted a new Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan that will serve as a roadmap for the city’s efforts to protect and manage wildlife, trees and sensitive habitats. The...
Mountain View scraps bond, opts for hotel tax measure
Looking to give the city an injection of new revenue, Mountain View is putting a measure on the November ballot that would increase taxes on local hotels. The City Council unanimously supported a staff recommendation on June 23 to move forward with a ballot initiative that would authorize the city to raise its existing 10% “transient...
Mountain View enters legal fight over Gilroy ICE facility
The Mountain View City Council took action on multiple fronts Tuesday to push back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, formally opposing plans for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Gilroy and passing a policy banning city property from being used for civil immigration enforcement. Santa Clara County and the state of California...
Palo Alto commission backs restoring ‘parkland’ status to Baylands site
The ribbon of land stretching along the southeast edge of Palo Alto’s wastewater plant has little to offer at first glance, but plenty on the second or third. It stretches between two critical environmental habitats, the Baylands Harbor Marsh on its northern end and the Emly Renzel Wetlands to the south. When Palo Alto voters...
Mountain View to launch Makers Market this fall
Mountain View’s downtown pedestrian mall is set to become a testing ground for local artists, makers and small businesses this fall, as the city prepares to launch a new Makers Market on Castro Street. The pilot series will bring vendors to the 300 block of Castro Street on four Fridays: Sept. 18, Oct. 23, Nov. 20 and...
Mountain View looks to adopt budget amid economic uncertainty
The Mountain View City Council is expected to adopt a balanced budget next week for the 2026-27 fiscal year, despite flattening revenues and rising costs, a trend that has defined the city’s financial outlook for the past couple years. The city is planning to close out the current 2025-26 fiscal year with a roughly $1.9 million...
Audit: Palo Alto cops frequently fail to activate body cameras
When two Palo Alto police officers attempted to arrest a drunk woman at a restaurant, they noted in their report that they heard a loud “pop” sound after pushing the woman against the wall. One of the officers told the woman: “I know it hurts because you are moving so much.” Only after they handcuffed...
Plans for massive Mountain View space center raise housing concerns
For the better part of a decade, NASA Ames and UC Berkeley have been planning to build a $2 billion space center at Moffett Field, but few details about the massive project on Mountain View’s border have been publicly known. That changed recently with the April release of an environmental report laying out different scenarios for the project....
Palo Alto hotel laid off full-time staff and brought in contract workers
When dozens of service workers at Hilton’s Graduate Hotel in downtown Palo Alto were suddenly laid off in April, some were told it was because management planned to close down the restaurant on the ground floor. To the surprise of former employees, the hotel’s restaurant is still bustling and staffed — with temporary contract workers....
Mountain View to tackle downtown office vacancies as rate tops 30%
As Mountain View enters the third year of a 10-year plan to revitalize the local economy, the city is seeing retail vacancies trending down in the heart of town, while downtown office vacancies are increasing. The retail vacancy rate in the downtown area was 6.1% in April, down from 8.5% two years ago. In contrast, the downtown...