Community organizer Erik Poicon announces candidacy for city council

Longtime community organizer and activist Erik Poicon has publicly announced his intention to run for Mountain View City Council ahead of the November election.

Four seats are up for grabs, and the campaign is heating up as more candidates, from established politicians to new challengers, vie for the chance to represent the city of Mountain View.

Although this was his first time running for City Council, Poicon boasted extensive experience in leadership and advocacy roles for the Mountain View community and the greater region, he said.

Poicon is chairman of the Silicon Valley Young Democrats and community outreach specialist for the Santa Clara County Library District. He also serves on the city’s Human Relations Commission, an advisory body that addresses economic, political and social issues.

“My main concern has always been community engagement and wanting to make sure that people are heard, but also that we follow up on what we hear with action,” Poicon said.

As a community organizer, Poicon is deeply committed to issues of social and economic inequality, with a particular focus on supporting underserved populations.

In 2020, Poicon worked with the county census office to ensure hard-to-reach populations were included in the census so they had access to much-needed resources and programs. He also helped combat election misinformation at the time, he said.

About a year later, Poicon joined the Community Services Agency (CSA) as a social worker, leading the COVID-19 response team and providing case management services to residents, many of whom were facing eviction and food insecurity, he said.

Poicon cites his life experiences as the basis for his political positions in support of disadvantaged communities. He grew up in a family that had problems with housing and food security, but despite these difficulties, his mother never gave up, he said.

“Todo en la vida se puede,” or “Everything in life is achievable,” is a phrase he often heard as a child, Poicon said. This philosophy of life accompanies him today and is an important reason why he is running for city council.

“When I was growing up, I wanted to provide a better community for my mother. And as I got older, I wanted a better community for all of us to make sure we didn’t have to go through similar circumstances to what I went through,” Poicon said.

For these reasons, Poicon has made housing a top priority of his campaign, stressing that working with community partners and stakeholders at the state and local levels is critical to ensuring that people of all income levels have access to housing.

Poicon also wants to strengthen programs that support public services and safety. Before the George Floyd protests, Poicon was a supporter of state laws like AB 392 and SB 1421 to provide more oversight and transparency in policing and better protect communities of color, he said.

In promoting its “City for All” initiative, Poicon also wants to ensure that the people who make these spaces possible are included, and by this it means in particular essential workers.

Promoting sustainable development and preserving green spaces to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are also high priorities, Poicon said.

During the campaign, Poicon plans to focus on being down-to-earth and knocking on people’s doors to get his message across to voters. But he also wants to hear what people have to say – an attitude that already drives much of his work in the city.

“Making sure people don’t feel left behind has essentially been my career path and I will continue to do it,” Poicon said.

Other candidates who have publicly stated their intention to run for City Council include: Mayor Pat Showalter, City Councilwoman Emily Ann Ramos, Mountain View Whisman Trustee Devon Conley, former City Council member John McAlister and Nicholas Hargis, congressional aide to U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.

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