Larry Klein (Mayor of Sunnyvale, California, candidate 2024)

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Larry Klein

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Mayor of Sunnyvale

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Southern California, 1989

Personal

Profession

Computer engineer

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Larry Klein ran for election to the Mayor of Sunnyvale in California. He was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Klein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Larry Klein provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 8, 2024:

• Bachelor's: University of Southern California, 1989
• Gender: Male
• Profession: Computer Engineer
• Prior offices held:
  • Sunnyvale Mayor (2019-Prsnt)
  • Sunnyvale Councilmember (2016-2020)
• Incumbent officeholder: Yes
• Campaign slogan: Leadership that Listens; Experience that Matters
• Campaign website
• Campaign endorsements
• Campaign Facebook
• Campaign Instagram

Elections

General election

General election for Mayor of Sunnyvale

Larry Klein and Russ Melton ran in the general election for Mayor of Sunnyvale on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Larry Klein (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Russ Melton (Nonpartisan)

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	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

To view Klein's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Klein in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Larry Klein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Klein's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I’ve been your Sunnyvale Mayor for almost 6 years now (since January of 2019). I have dedicated more than 20 years to service to our City. From 9+ years as Planning Commissioner, non-profit board member, 8+ years on Council, and almost 6 as your Mayor. I was laid off from my day job 3 years ago, and I've made being Mayor my full-time job--being Sunnyvale's biggest cheerleader and advocate. I am a Computer Science Major who decided he needed to help fix a dysfunctional City Council.

My wife and I bought our home in Downtown Sunnyvale 22 years ago, I got involved with Sunnyvale was creating the vision for our downtown. That vision of a vibrant, walkable community is almost complete.

- As our first directly elected Mayor, I’ve fulfilled my promise to develop Downtown into a vibrant pedestrian zone, adding housing and retail. - As a COVID Mayor, I fought for better public health and led our city’s recovery. I helped residents get the assistance they needed, and helped small businesses survive with my Mayor’s Restaurant Project (www.EatSunnyvale.com). - I’ve championed environmental sustainability—opening our beautiful City Hall, worked to reduce greenhouse gases, and prepare for sea level rise. - I’ve celebrated our diversity—raising voices of often unheard residents. - I succeeded in convincing Council to fund a backlog of years of tree trimming.

I humbly ask for your vote, so I can continue fighting for Sunnyvale residents and making our community better.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• My goal is create safer streets and our quality of life with better parks, more trails/bike lanes, andI’ll champion environmental sustainability (climate action and transportation options). I championed extending Stevens Creek Trail, creating an Evenly Multi-Use Trail, and getting a Citywide Shuttle for everyone, but especially our seniors and high school students. We have a great city and I have plans to make it better.
• I’ll address homelessness humanely and promote affordable housing and walkable neighborhoods.

  I have partnered with affordable housing developers to find sites to build more affordable housing. We need to add more accessory dwellings throughout our single family neighborhoods, so people can retire to the back yard and leave their main house for families looking for good schools and neighborhoods.

  I have worked to deal with our homeless community, providing dignity with showers and laundry and try to get them county services and temporary and permanent housing.
• Using my start-up experience, I’ll ensure continued fiscal responsibility, maintaining a balanced budget. Sunnyvale weathered the COVID storm well, and this year added 27 new city employees, including 3 in Public Safety and 24 across the organization. We need to keep innovating, like the July 4th Drone Show that we initiated this year.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am a strong housing and active transportation advocate. I have been working with affordable housing and market rate developers to create walkable, livable communities that meet the needs of everyone. We have created senior housing and housing for families with members with developmental disabilities. We need to build smaller so that we can house more people in our community.

I'm a big advocate for better transportation and more active transportation. From better walkable and likable communties, with protected bike lanes, and more walkable, safe areas in our city.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Please read a Team Of Rivals. It documents how Abraham Lincoln brought together a mixed team of political rivals and often contentious individuals tone a successful cabinet.

The job of Mayor is one of team builder and partner. Making sure that the Council is successful together is key. They will NOT see eye to eye, but they must be civil and respectful; but better things can come from the differing views on the matters at hand.

It also shows how humble but determined leadership can make things better, and that different perspectives and diversity make a better team.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Maintaining the community's TRUST and being APPROACHABLE to residents who have issues is crucial.

For 8 years, I’ve met weekly with residents and business owners to answer questions and collaborate to solve concerns. I have prioritized making sure that our diverse community feels seen and heard. I try to be everywhere as mayor so that people can come to me with their concerns and ideas. I can help them get more involved in the community.

Being HONEST and SETTING a calm and concerned tone with residents. For more than 4 years since the beginning of COVID, I've had weekly LiveStream addresses. During COVID, I was seen as the calm voice in the storm, telling people the ever-changing rules and giving them words of encouragement that we would ge through this together. I still hold these weekly LiveStream addresses to answer questions, give updates and reach a segment of the community.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Being honest and approachable to everyone in a diverse community. You serve at the will of the residents, and with a city of 156 thousand people, you rely on the residents to be the eyes and ears of Council and staff to know what new issues are arising and new ideas of how the city could do better.

I've set a civil tone on Council to make sure Councilmembers are heard. I've partnered with Council and residents to make our community better.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was paperboy. I delivered the newspaper by bike for several years when I was in middle school. It helped me understand the importance of hard work.

A mayor is a leader in his or her city. What does that mean to you?

The Mayor is the Chief Cheerleader and Chief Counselor in the community.

I'm there to celebrate the successes of residents and businesses, and help build community and highlight why the city is good.

I'm also there when things go wrong and work with residents to figure out how they, the community or city needs to respond. I dealt with the a Hate Crime where a veteran off his meds drove into a group of residents in a in a crosswalk in a fit of Islamaphobic Hate. I met with the families of those effected and held a Unity Event which we hold yearly now, to stand against hate in our community.

If the mayor in your city is a member of the city council and there's a city manager appointed to handle the day-to-day administration of the city government, what do you believe should be the mayor's top priority in office?

The Mayor's main job is to run meetings and set the agenda in collaboration with the City Manager.

But beyond that, the Mayor's Main Job is to build community and define a long term vision. The Mayor needs to partner closely with Councilmembers to help them be successful.

The job is also to partner with the City Manager to raise concerns as residents complain to the Mayor, so that we can respond to issues before they become bigger concerns.

It is also to work with residents to help them advocate successfully with Council and City Staff to get positive change done in the community.

What do you love most about your city?

The diversity of our residents. More than 50% of our residents were born out side of the US. That diversity causes challenges at times, but it makes for a better community. That diversity is reflected in our restaurants, and it is reflected in the different community events that we have. My main job is to make sure that our diverse community feels seen and heard, and help them celebrate their traditions, while being an active part of the city.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Continuing to create affordable housing and deal with the rising cost of living in the Bay Area. We need to improve active transportation to get people out of their cards and make it cheaper for them to take alternative transportation.

Sunnyvale need to actively work on climate change, and prepare for sea level rise.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the state government?

We need to advocate for more local control with our state government. Many of the laws are written as one-size-fits-all, which often disadvantages a well-run city.

Much of my time is also spent advocating for State funding, to make sure that our city gets its fair share of any potential state funding.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the federal government?

I utilize our federal district representatives to better deal with issues at a federal level (immigration, visas, social security, etc.).
Much of my time is also spent advocating for Federal funding and grants, to make sure that our city gets its fair share of any potential federal funding.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor's office and law enforcement?

The Mayor needs to have a good working relationship with the Chief of Public Safety and law enforcement in general. I often call the chief with community concerns. Whether this is concerns about cross-walk safety, or school concerns, or RVs parked in front of someone's home. People need to feel safe. We are blessed to be in the top 10 safest cities in that nation.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

I have a very long list of supporters and endorsers at the Federal, State, County and City level and organizations.

This includes the San Jose Mercury news.
Electeds: Congressmember Ro Khanna and Anna Eshoo, Senators Dave Cortese and Josh Becker, Assemblymembers Evan Low & Ash Kalra,
Supervisors Otto Lee & Cindy Chavez,
a majority of my present Councilmember colleagues,
past Sunnyvale Mayors (including Dianne McKenna, Larry Stone, Ron Gonzales),
numerous school board trustees,
and community leaders.

I’m also solely endorsed by multiple organizations.

PLEASE SEE: www.LarryForMayor.com/endorsements for the full list.

I am able to be more successful because of my network of supporters.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Sunnyvale is founded on strong fiscal responsibility. We were named the Best Run City in the nation in the 1990s and those policies are still in effect. We have a 20 year plan and 10 year balanced budget, which serves us well so that we can look at the longterm effect of any new city programs. I prescribe to continuing this good financial stewardship of the city budget and operations.

I was happy that we weathered COVID well, and we were able to start right-sizing the staffing for the city.

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