My name is Erik Poicon, and I'm running for Mountain View City Council because I know firsthand what it means when a city works and what it means when it doesn't.
Why I'm Running
Mountain View is changing fast. We've made real progress as a city, but it's getting harder to stay. Costs keep rising, and for many families, seniors, and longtime residents especially those who are immigrants, working-class, or living on fixed incomes stability is no longer a given. For me, this is not abstract. It is personal.
My Story
I have experienced homelessness. I've received rental and food assistance. I know what it means to need help and what it means when a community shows up for you. My mother, who raised me alone, used to say: "Todo en la vida se puede" . Everything in life is achievable. Even when we faced housing and food insecurity, she made sure we felt stable and supported. After losing her in 2017, I committed myself to building that same sense of opportunity and stability for others.
A Lifetime of Service
That commitment has guided everything I've done since. I've organized with community groups to advance tenant protections and public safety reforms. I helped ensure our most overlooked residents were counted in the Census because those numbers determine who gets resources and who gets left out. During the pandemic, I connected families to food, rental assistance, and essential services. Today, as a community outreach specialist for the Santa Clara County Library District and a Human Relations Commissioner, I continue to advocate every day for a more inclusive and responsive Mountain View. The library is not just a building. It is where seniors access services, where immigrant families navigate systems, where unhoused individuals find safety and warmth, and where children are supported after school. It is public infrastructure for the people most at risk of being left behind and protecting it is part of what I mean when I say I'm running for everyone. I'm running because this city is making decisions right now on state housing law, on zoning, on the city budget, on who gets displaced when new development arrives that will determine who can afford to live here in 2030. Those decisions need someone at the table who has personally navigated the systems we're debating, who understands what displacement really costs, and who will fight to make sure Mountain View works for the people who live here every day, not just the highest earners.