I need your help
We can still right the Housing Element train
Dear neighbor,
I seek your help on the Housing Element. Four councilmembers are marching fast and furious forward but we are not positioned for success. I have been saying for weeks that we should slow down as we are far ahead compared in the Housing Element timeline compared to other cities. I have given up,.
But you can help.
Please click on this link and follow the Call to Action - it will take you a minute. Take the time to read the complete recommendation though.
I have given up trying to correct the train wreck - as you saw at the last city council meeting of Jan 28, 2022. Can you and I team up to salvage this? Saratoga makes a wrong turn now and our very future is in jeopardy - we are dealing with a monumental crisis. We need to make good choices.
I have been speaking like a broken record for the last few weeks, but to no avail. The council ignores - Just like how our neighbor's call for equity and not putting a huge portion of the sites north of cox has been ignored.
If you click the link above, you will find the following:
Why the path the council has taken won’t work.
The issues I have observed so far that need remedy
The simple Call to Action for you to help correct course
My pledge - I will never let the people of Saratoga down. As a lone ranger…scroll down
You may have noticed  - I don’t take this platform conferred by our people lightly. I work hard and will never follow the herd down the cliff in the spirit of teaming - that would be fatal for Saratoga and everything I stand for.
Take a minute to get involved and support my efforts to fight for our future! Thanks so much!
Take the survey if you haven’t already alreadytinyurl.com/StopTheTrainWreck
WHY IS RISHI TAKING THIS APPROACH?
Simply because we have a cliquish attitude on the city council. The clique ignores good ideas and don’t listen to the voice of reason - because they can! This is what I have been dealing with, even with this new additional councilmembers. If you watch the clique prefers to look down and are doing something while a councilmember is speaking. Watch the videos please.
AS A LONE RANGER AT TIMES - WE MANAGED TO FAVOR SARATOGA’S INTERESTS
As a lone ranger, I have managed to call out the issues and correct course with many important Silicon Valley and Saratoga issues. It is a tried and tested formula. I have always challenged the system fearlessly. Why would I roll over and play dead now or let foolishness prevail?
 If I hadn’t done what I did - we would not have rejected 9 San Jose Water Company’s water rate increases that benefited a million people of Silicon Valley, or reduced burglaries - the largest reduction compared to any other Silicon Valley city, and stopped a potential 300-room hotel mega development project on a hillside in a high fire hazard zone. When my colleagues on the city council proposed a road tax, I was the only dissenting vote, pushing for a budget optimization approach instead to free up dollars for road repair. The council ultimately put the brakes on the road tax. I was the only councilmember that spoke against the ministerial process for SB-35 projects i.e Quito Village’s 91 housing unit. Mary-Lynne, Yan and 2 more voted in favor. Should we give up without a fight? When the system is rigged to benefit sold out politicians and their real-estate donors - you would still expect me to play ball?
There is nothing in today’s process that a principled man who hasn’t sold out to a flawed system would support.