For Sunnyvale the 2020 election will be a first in two ways. Voters will vote for the City’s first directly elected Mayor and its first district Councilmembers.
Mayor
Michael Goldman
A software engineer, Goldman was elected to the Council on 2016. A Vietnam Veteran, Goldman has taught high school mathematics, tutored disadvantaged students and served in executive roles for the Sunnyvale Alliance Soccer Club. He represents the City on the Grand Boulevard Task Force.
Larry Klein
Currently Sunnyvale’s appointed Mayor, Klein was first elected to the Council in 2016 and appointed Mayor by his Council colleagues in 2019. A software engineer,
Klein represents Sunnyvale on Santa Clara County Cities Association Board, Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).
Prior to election to City Council, Klein was Planning Commission Chair and served on the Joint Cities Stevens Creek Trail Extension Citizens Group and Sunnyvale’s 2007 Charter Review Committee.
Klein has also served on the Sunnyvale’s Community Gardens Board, Centennial Parade and Celebration Planning Committee, Historical Society and Museum Association and was Founding Member of Charles Street Community Gardens.
Nancy Smith
Currently Sunnyvale’s Vice Mayor, Smith, a program manager, was elected to the Council in 2016. She represents the City on the California League of Cities Women’s Caucus (President), Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority Board (Vice-Chair, Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission (Vice-Chair), Santa Clara Valley Water Commission and Caltrain Modernization Local Policy Maker Group.
Smith also represents Sunnyvale on the National League of Cities’ Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Committee; Housing, Economic and Community Development Policy Committee; and Community Services Policy Committee.
Smith also is Board President of the California Native Garden Foundation and a Founding Sponsor of the Sunnyvale Youth Public Policy Institute. She has served on the Sunnyvale Housing and Community Services Commission, Silicon Valley Leadership Group Transportation and Housing committees, Santa Clara Valley Water District Environmental and Water Resources board, and Santa Clara County’s Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee.
District 2
Alysa Cisneros
A Sunnyvale native and a research consultant for California non-profits, Cisneros has worked as a policy analyst and program manager for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the ACLU of Northern California, De Anza College, the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy In Action, My Vote Our Future and Groundworks Campaigns.
Cisneros has worked as a Teaching Assistant and as a Research Fellow at De Anza College. She also serves on the De Anza Commission, the Sunnyvale Library Board of Trustees, and on the Cupertino For All Steering Committee. As a student, Cisneros was editor in chief for a college graduate school public policy magazine.
Josh Grossman
An attorney and technology infrastructure product manager, Grossman served on Sunnyvale’s Housing and Human Services Commission — including as vice chair — and is serving as chair of the building appeals board.
Before moving to Sunnyvale, Grossman served on the Board of Trustees of a Sonoma County school district.
Hina Siddiqui
Siddiqui is a data and analytics lead. She has volunteered with Second Harvest Food Bank and assisted veterans in up-skilling and resume-building.
Before moving to Sunnyvale, Siddiqui worked as an Integration/Systems Analyst for a non-profit cancer research center and mentored at-risk High School students.
District 4
Paul Lesevic
An environmental and biomaterials engineer, Lesevic won a 2005 Sunnyvale Community Award for Contribution to the Arts. As a student he participated in a poverty alleviation project in Tijuana, and was named a 2005 National Hispanic Scholar.
Russell Melton
A retired credit union EVP and COO, Melton was elected to the Council in 2016 and has served as Vice Mayor.
He represents the City on the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board, Santa Clara County Expressway 2040 Policy Advisory Board, Santa Clara Valley Water Recycled Water committee, and Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority, Santa Clara County Emergency Operational Area Council, County Local Agency Formation Commission, and the League of California Cities Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee.
Before his election to Council, Melton served on Sunnyvale’s Planning Commission, the Community Interview Panel for the City Manager recruitment, and the Lawrence Station Area Plan Citizen Advisory Group and liaison committees with the City’s four school districts. Melton is a Navy Veteran.
District 6
Omar Din
A Finance Fellow for a startup with a degree in Public Policy, Din has served on the Sunnyvale Parks and Recreation Commission.
Din has worked in the offices of Assemblyman Evan Low and former Congressional Representative Mike Honda, and as a legislative analyst for the South Bay office of the civil rights organization Council on American-Islamic Relations. As a student, Din managed a student association budget.
Leia Mehlman
A registered nurse and a pharmaceutical safety manager, Mehlman serves on the Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. She has also volunteered in a free clinic, providing primary healthcare and health education to economically disadvantaged patients.
Editor’s Note: Bios of Grossman and Cisneros have been updated.
