By Molly Pigot
Everest Editor-in-Chief
In San Carlos, City Council members serve for four years. This year, three council members’ terms are ending, and three new members will be elected on Nov. 4. There are now five new candidates up for election, with one of them being Adam Rak.
Adam Rak is a San Carlos local of 19 years who has served many local organizations, including the San Carlos School Board and the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Rak has also been very involved in politics outside of California, as he was a legislative aide for Barbara Kennelley in Washington, D.C.
He is now running for City Council in hopes of helping mold San Carlos in the midst of a time of change.
Mr. Rak came to Everest Public High School on Oct. 5 and had a discussion with students about why he decided to run and what his platform is. This discussion gave insight into what he will provide the council if he is elected.
A major point of our discussion was housing in San Carlos. Recently, the town has been building a lot of new housing in an effort to draw in more people to move to the small town. Mr. Rak was very passionate about making housing affordable for people moving in.
A big issue in the town has been the housing market. Most houses sell for over $1,000,000, which makes San Carlos a very expensive place to live. Mr. Rak wants to make sure that housing is affordable for people moving into town.
Mr. Rak mentioned that a major influence behind wanting to make housing affordable was so that teachers and school faculty members can continue to live close to the schools they teach at. He said teachers are not paid enough and, because of that, living in San Carlos can be difficult.
Mr. Rak believes the town has a very good school system. Their elementary and middle schools consist of high-quality teachers and faculty members that are passionate about education, and they are a necessity to the success of their students, he argued.
Because of how important the school faculty is and how little they are paid (the average salary for the district is around $70,000 a year), Mr. Rak wants to ensure that San Carlos can be a home to these people who are shaping the future of our communities. He says he will do this by making sure that there is affordable housing available to educators and school faculty so that they can continue to work in the San Carlos School District.
Mr. Rak is also very passionate about maintaining San Carlos’ small town feel. San Carlos has been known as a small town and a welcoming space to small businesses and families. The Bay Area has been going through a lot of change as it has become a hub for the tech industry, and Mr. Rak wants to ensure that San Carlos can still be a small town through all of this change.
Mr. Rak says that he will accomplish this by lowering the 50-foot threshold on businesses on Laurel Street to a two-story threshold. He also wants to keep small businesses open because they add a lot of value to the overall small town feel.
San Carlos is a very special place to Mr. Rak, and he is willing to do whatever he can to serve the community to the best of his abilities. He said, “If I have to be the squeaky wheel, I will be the squeaky wheel.”
Mr. Rak is very passionate about San Carlos and is looking forward to serving it. To learn more about him, visit his website: https://adamrak.org.
Be First to Comment