Maria Ristow for Town Council

Knowledge.Passion.Action

I am that person you see walking and biking everywhere.  I love this town, I love meeting people, and I love being active.  As a curious, fact-driven person who wants to make a difference, I have attended Town Council and Planning Commission meetings for the past 20 years, volunteered to count cars, bike and pedestrians for studies, organized bike valets, coached youth sports, served on 4 town commissions, and done almost anything Safe Routes to School needs done.  I try to understand the issues facing our neighborhoods and region from a variety of angles, attending meetings, talking to residents and decision-makers, reading reports and asking questions.  I strive to be thorough and fair.  I am running for Town Council because I know I can make a difference for our residents and business community.  What we love about this town is due to those who came before us.  I want to help make the decisions now to benefit the present and future generations of Los Gatos.

Commissions (appointed by the Town Council)

  • Complete Streets and Transportation Commission (2020-present)
  • Transportation & Parking Commission 2015-2019 (Chair 2016)
  • Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board 2015-2016 (Chair 2015)
  • Housing Element Advisory Board 2014-15

Community Volunteering:

  • Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (2016-present)
  • League of Women Voters (2018-present)
  • Democracy Tent, formerly Local Democracy in Practice (2017-present)
  • Los Gatos Community Alliance (2014-2018)
  • Leadership Los Gatos 2014-15

Sports Boards/ Coaching:

  • Los Gatos United Soccer League: LGUSL 2006-2013
  • Volleyball: USYVL 2008-2012, St. Mary’s 5th Grade teams
  • LGS Recreation Teams

School Volunteering:

  • Safe Routes to School 2014-present
    • training students in bike safety at Daves, Van Meter, Blossom Hill and Lexington Schools
    • Bike/Walk to Breakfast at Los Gatos High School
    • First day of School distribution of Walk and Roll maps at Fisher Middle School
  • Los Gatos High School: Attendance office, NMF auction database
  • Fisher Middle School: Project Cornerstone book club, algebra tutor, yard duty
  • St. Mary’s School: yard duty, room parent, auction database, cub scouts, girl scouts
  • Los Gatos Parent Nursery School 1999-2004, Board member

Town Volunteer:

  • Adopt-a-Highway cleanups
  • Chamber of Commerce events
  • Bike Valet for July 4th, Holiday Parade, Spring into Green, and St. Mary’s Country Fair events
  • Parking workshops
  • North 40 workshops
  • Connect Los Gatos workshops
  • Parking counts
  • Bike/ped counts

Education and Work Experience:

  • B.S. Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • Worked as an engineer for a number of high tech companies
  • More than 30 published papers and 1 patent