By Braden Cartwright
Daily Post Staff Writer
Planning Commissioner Doria Summa announced yesterday that she is running for Palo Alto City Council, hoping to continue her fight against state housing mandates and her efforts to preserve Palo Alto’s neighborhoods.
Summa said yesterday that her priority is to make sure that council is responsive to the concerns of residents and businesses.
“This includes managing a growing number of potentially costly state mandates without diminishing services and compromising our quality of life,” Summa said in her announcement.
Councilwoman Lydia Kou and Vice Mayor Ed Lauing endorsed Summa, who has been on the city’s Planning and Transportation Commission since 2016.
Summa ran for council two years ago and finished in fifth. Lauing, Councilwoman Vicki Veenker and Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims were elected.
Summa grew up in Chicago and moved to Palo Alto in 1986, working in the movie industry. She started volunteering with the College Terrace Residents’ Association in 2008 and was eventually elected president.
Summa worked on a “traffic calming” committee and Residential Parking Permit committee, she said.
Summa has also worked on committees that developed the city’s requirement for first-floor retail and that planned for land use around the old Fry’s building.
Summa is a board member for the Peninsula Humane Society and La Comida, a nonprofit that serves lunches to seniors in Palo Alto.
Summa is running for one of four seats. Kou, 57, and Councilman Greg Tanaka, 49, can’t run again in November due to term limits.
