IdaRose Sylvester for Mountain View City Council

IdaRose Sylvester for Mountain View City Council IdaRose Sylvester, community leader. I love Mountain View!

I've joined the board of Mountain View Public Safety Foundation. Our goal is to support the Mountain View Police and Fir...
06/17/2026

I've joined the board of Mountain View Public Safety Foundation. Our goal is to support the Mountain View Police and Fire Departments along with the Mountain View Police Activities League (PAL), and we host well known programs such as Cops and Gobblers. Through our efforts to provide training, resources and other support avenues, we safeguard our first responders, while also ensuring our programs make the entire City of Mountain View a better and safer place to live, work and visit.

We are supporting MVPD dispatcher Jennelle Crnich, a single mom to two small children. She has breast cancer, and is in the middle of treatment. She's had some unexpected complications, making matters even more dire. To help pay her unexpected bills and make up for lost time at work, we are hosting a fundraiser. We will match dollar for dollar, and your donation is tax deductible. Please make a note on the donation page that you are supporting Jennelle.

It’s my birthday, and my biggest wish for the year ahead is simple: to serve Mountain View on City Council and fight for...
06/14/2026

It’s my birthday, and my biggest wish for the year ahead is simple: to serve Mountain View on City Council and fight for the community I love.

The best birthday gift you could give me is your support — by endorsing, volunteering, donating, or sharing my campaign with others.

Thank you for believing in me and in what Mountain View can be.

Links in the comments.

In the past 10 years, I've organized countless protests, marches, and political events. In the last year, that included ...
06/14/2026

In the past 10 years, I've organized countless protests, marches, and political events. In the last year, that included several multi-mile, many thousand people marches and No Kings events.

People sometimes challenge why I do this, what the point is. To me, it's simple: it's about building community. About bridging differences, and aligning along our common values, to build a stronger, safer, community for all. Seeing upwards of 20,000 people come out and celebrate our core values, knowing that it gives people hope, builds friendships, builds a long term sense of connection and community, is why I do it.

And, the work behind the scenes is fascinating. Recruiting and managing up to 100 volunteers for each event. Planning safety with police and fire departments. Marketing to diverse audiences and motivating them to show up (20k people don't just show up). Coordinating day of logistics, responding to emergencies, clearing up confusion, making people feel safe and welcome. It's complex, filled with spreadsheets and data, plans, plan Bs, and plan Cs.

It's an honor to see people at their first protest, be it newborn or 98 years old. It is an honor to hear something you did provided people a sense of hope, faith, and community. It's an honor to unite people along their similarities, and build bridges across differences.

For in fact, that is the meaning of community. A common bond created among people that transcends differences and unites people in purpose.

On Thursday, I joined Mountain View Historical Association (whose board I sit on), Arts Mountain View, the Visual Arts C...
06/12/2026

On Thursday, I joined Mountain View Historical Association (whose board I sit on), Arts Mountain View, the Visual Arts Committee, the City of Mountain View, VTA, artist John Patrick Thomas, and others to have a ribbon cutting for the new murals at the downtown train station, featuring Mountain View history.

Public art inspires, creates beautiful cityscapes, supports artists, and increases people's connection to places. It can also educate, like these amazing panels do.

It's a walk through of our history, from the Ohlone people, whose unceded ancestral homeland we are on, all the way through the modern technology industry. Ohlone, Spanish, European, Japanese, Chinese and other people are recognized in this art.

As a community historian, it is incredibly important to me that we look at who is included, what stories we are telling, and who is telling them when we are teaching history. I was honored to be included in the early days of this project, discussing the importance of elevating and acknowledging the many voices who have created this space we call home.

Here's to more wonderful public art in Mountain View, as we invest in and prioritize it more moving forward.

Many of my activities don't generate fancy action shots, but here is a great group photo of me and my fellow MV mediator...
06/11/2026

Many of my activities don't generate fancy action shots, but here is a great group photo of me and my fellow MV mediators celebrating the program's 50th anniversary. We are volunteers with the city, and with Project Sentinel.

Being a mediator is one of THE most rewarding volunteer activities I do. Helping people feel like they are heard, seen, and respected, and then working with them to find peaceful solutions in community conflicts, is extremely rewarding. This work uplifts individuals, and builds community resiliency.

I call upon many years of business negotiations, international business development and teaching, crisis counselor training, life experience, curiosity, and a never-ending belief in the good of people to be able to work through difficult circumstances, some extremely painful and emotional.

As I say, it's never about the fence (a very common issue people fight over); there's always something else, deeper, more personal, sometimes hidden. I have a knack for holding space for these complex, underlying issues to come forward, and in that manner, get resolved. And in return, this work feeds my soul, and continues to challenge and teach me.

I had the honor on going on a urban forest walk in Cuesta Park with Canopy, Mountain View's awesome nonprofit tree plant...
06/10/2026

I had the honor on going on a urban forest walk in Cuesta Park with Canopy, Mountain View's awesome nonprofit tree planting and education partner.

Trees matter. They help in our fight against climate change by sequestering carbon, and they provide support for climate resiliency, by providing cooling shade. Trees clean our air. Trees support diverse habitat for birds, mammals, bugs, and other creatures which create healthy, complete ecosystems. They release phytoncides, and other chemicals, which directly impact mental health and a sense of well being.

But here's another truth: people simply love trees. Trees are beautiful, trees inspire, especially older growth large trees like our redwoods (not native to Mountain View but adapted and widely planted). They become an integral part of our cityscape, and become part of how we view and feel about our city.

Preserving and expanding our urban forest is very important, and can be difficult, but doing so provides many benefits, and is the only physical asset in a city whose value appreciates over time.

I'm on our Parks and Rec Commission, and will share more about that, including our work with trees, soon.

I am an educator. I've spent recent years teaching programs for high school, college, and graduate schools, as well as i...
06/09/2026

I am an educator. I've spent recent years teaching programs for high school, college, and graduate schools, as well as in non-academic programs for governments and private companies. My work is centered on teaching entrepreneurship and leadership.

I had the huge honor of take this work with Defy Ventures to the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, CA. I worked with dozens of men with big dreams, big ideas, for their future. I helped shape their entrepreneurial ideas into solid plans, while also coaching them to keep going and not give up.

I had many in-depth one on one conversations getting to know the program participants. Their hopes, their dreams, their fears, the reality of their daily lives. I was absolutely floored by the humanity, the kindness, the humor we shared. I had an incredible conversation with one man who holds a job a leader, a liaison of sorts between guards and other inmates, and the unique social challenges he faces for being in between. I met another getting out in two weeks, and could feel his excitement, but also his fear. I heard about wives, children, grandchildren. A man who thought he was set for a happy retirement life, that somehow found himself there.

The participants were so eager to hear about my world, and hear stories from "outside." Something mundane like driving a car was so interesting to them, since they are so removed from what we all think of as our daily grind. Nothing prepared me for how much my view of myself would be challenged, and how uplifting and deeply meaningful this day would be, how these gentlemen would stick with me. I have taught a lot of people, but never have I felt it mattered quite as much as it did in Soledad, and never have I learned as much about myself as I did there.

I somehow earned the nickname Rosie Rose, which really made the day even more fun.

Thanks to Senator Josh Becker for organizing this trip.

The Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Mountain View program hosted a tour of Wisk Aero today, sharing the future of auton...
06/06/2026

The Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Mountain View program hosted a tour of Wisk Aero today, sharing the future of autonomous flight. The use case is short distance (think MV to SF) flights priced at a similar level to Uber Black. As our roads become more crowded, is taking to the skies the future for every day travel?

It's hard to say where this will land (pun intended). Maybe their business model will be more focused on government uses, package delivery, medical transport, or something a little less pedestrian (yes, another pun intended) than you and me trying to get to a Warriors game or to work, but pushing the innovation envelope is what makes Silicon Valley so unique, and Mountain View has a special place as the heart of Silicon Valley.

Innovation drives jobs, tax revenue, other economic benefits, and excitement. There are many companies creating the future in Mountain View, some you will soon hear about, and yes, they are generating great jobs of all kinds, despite concerns about AI. We need to encourage these companies, and be proud of Mountain View's role in the future.

I've spent most of my career talking about Silicon Valley, as a consultant, interim executive, and educator, and the wonders never cease to inspire me. Yes, negative externalities exist, but we can work together to address them

Thanks to Wisk for taking time out of their day to host us, and to Leadership Mountain View for continuing to encourage learning and community. LMV 2019 representing!

As a board member of the Mountain View Historical Association, I get to participate in the City's Multicultural Festival...
06/05/2026

As a board member of the Mountain View Historical Association, I get to participate in the City's Multicultural Festival.

Mountain View has a rich history of continually attracting immigrants from literally everywhere in the world, and our city is shaped by the richness of diversity and lived experiences people bring here.

A few years ago, I created this map project so people can share where they are from, and we invite them to think about how their origin helps shape the Mountain View of today and tomorrow, while also sharing our rich cultural heritage. People often show incredible pride in their origin, and joy for seeing so many people from the same place they are, or, marvel in the uniqueness of where they are from.

Standing back from the map, people really sense the power of Mountain View's multiculturalism. Kids absolutely adore learning about their parents, too. And, I think many people get my underlying lesson: YOU are the history of tomorrow, being made right now.

This year, I met someone from Kyrgyzstan, and I told him I had been there with a US Department of State citizen ambassador delegation. He was stunned, never having met someone who had been there, and we had a great time reflecting on Central Asia.

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