Politics & Government
Los Altos City Council Race: Jarrett Fishpaw Focuses on Fresh Perspective and Leveraging Low-Cost Technology
Los Altos native emphasizes the need for better communication with residents and his desire to give back to his hometown.
If Jarrett Fishpaw ever gets tired of people remarking about his age, the Los Altos City Council candidate doesn't let on.
Possibly the youngest candidate to run for office in Los Altos, Fishpaw plays his 23 years as a strength. "What better time than now devote to the office?" he asks. He has no spouse or children, and has the time and the energy, he said.
Fishpaw's thought of running for office ever since he started working for the Los Altos Village Association, where he attended council meetings as part of his job. But why did a young guy, whose peers are probably enjoying less-wonky free-time pursuits, want to get involved with city politics?"
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"I felt civic engagement was a great value," the UC-Santa Cruz graduate said. "I would watch the council during the summers when I was working for the Village Association." He thought he could make a contribution.
While there aren't many precedents in Los Altos, there are in Campbell. Evan Low ran for office in 2004 when he was 21. He was elected two years later in 2006. Last year, he made headlines when he was elected mayor by the votes of his council members—at the age of 26.
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Fishpaw is a financial analyst at Cisco, where he works with a team of "statisticians and Ph.D.s" He also holds a master's degree in applied economics.
He has advocated responsible downtown development, including a process to bring together views from stakeholders, such as business people, residents and others, to determine how to develop and improve the triangle-shaped district. The so-called visioning process is one that has been considered by the council but not approved.
Fishpaw also advocates better communication between city government and residents by leveraging low-cost new technology so that people can actually follow and comment on an agenda item before the council.
"I don't believe we are leveraging information technology to its potential," he said.
With seven years at the Los Altos Village Association, Fishpaw said he got a ground-level view on how to work with different groups, coordinating with them toward a common goal. He's delved into traffic issues, listened to planning commission meetings and engaged with the Los Altos Neighborhood Network.
"What's important is that I bring a new perspective," he said. "Inherently I bring an understanding of youth and older adults."
He advocates that residents of all ages get active in the community, and says that he is particularly interested in the services to seniors. "I'm a big fan of active aging," he said. "Los Altos needs to embrace its demographic."
Fishpaw has also emphasized his candidacy as unique because he is a homegrown product of Los Altos schools and institutions. Few candidates might think of listing their Eagle Scout troop number on campaign material, but for Fishpaw, it's a badge of localness that few others have.
"This is a community that has provided me many opportunities and I want to make sure those opportunities are there for the coming generations," he said.
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