Thanks, Gennady. I was born January 28, 1964 (Aquarius) such that I am 45 actually. I moved here in fall of 1975, for fifth grade at Fremont Hills (with Olive Borgsteadt). I graduated Gunn in 1982. Go, Titans!

Interesting. Mark Weiss says that business owners are overrepresented in local government, yet he is leaning against the business license tax (which many, if not most, local cities already levy but not Palo Alto). How does he reconcile the two positions?

After receiving a flyer at the Farmers Market today I looked up information about Mark Weiss.
I think he is the real deal. Not the usual politician. I like very much that he comes from a literary and arts background!

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff]

I am opposed to Measure A -- vote it down as a referendum on the current council and as a vote for change. It is poorly written. We should tax the largest corporations, perhaps. But as written this is regressive in that it hurts small business. I do think real estate interests are over-represented on council and in the current race - notice that the three papers endorsed the candidates most closely tied to that segment of the economy.
I bemoan the lack of a broader discussion in the campaign of what are the values of our community -- too many pro-business and, frankly, anti-democratic questions in the surveys and forums. Too short a campaign. I have lived here since 1974 but only entered the campaign two months ago.
Mark Weiss
Gunn 1982
Dartmouth 1986
founder, Earthwise Productions - a small, socially-conscious business here since 1994

This is a buggy-whip moment. The world is changing and a lot of local businesses are going to miss out on the future because they refuse to recognize that their business model is obsolete. (REI is a great example of a company that makes it work in the real and online world.)

It’s not sales tax that keeps me buying from Amazon and other etailers. The big benefits are convenience, huge selection, ability to easily search for the best price, free shipping (sometimes), online reviews, great support (from most places).

I like Keplers, but why would I drive there (parking’s tough in Menlo Park), maybe not find what I want, pay full price if I do?

Keeping track of sales tax is easy. Every time I buy something online, I plug the price into a spreadsheet. At the end of the year, I hand over my Use Tax list to my accountant.

I re-read this because Gennady linked to it in his brief story today, five years later, about my running for Council again, summer-fall, 2014. I would say this is mostly still true, although I have honed my views on local policy having attended that many more meetings and read that many more staff reports, and press coverage.

I would say, in a lesser manner, the Weekly is less generous in their portrayal of me. That's their prerogative, but I wonder if it's is because I consistently accuse them of a pro-devleoper bias. And I refuse to spend money on my campaign or in their paper (I was an advertiser here when Earthwise Productions ran a concert series at Cubberley).

I describe the basic model of Palo Alto politics as a tug-of-war between Downtown interests, principally commercial real estate developers and the rest of us, or the residents or Residentialists. That's an oversimplification but meat enough to chew on. Meanwhile, as evidenced by Measure D referendum in 2013 and the Grand Jury report of June, 2014, increasing numbers of citizens are activated and clamoring for change, along these lines.

I repeat Mr. Weiss' first posting: "I graduated Gunn in 1982. Go, Titans!" which is a divisive statement in this city.

Did no one catch his mathematical error? "I was born January 28, 1964 (Aquarius) such that I am 45 actually." He should be age 50 unless he drank from the Fountain of Youth at some concert.

Prepare for the snipers, Mr. Weiss.

Dude, check your calendar math. The original date of the article was 2009...which would have made his age 45 at the time.