Graduate School of Business alumna Yoriko Kishimoto, former Palo Alto mayor and City Council member, is running for a 21st district state assembly seat — the only woman among three candidates in the race.
Kishimoto made a campaign stop at Stanford on Tuesday night to share her background and her political ambitions.
Kishimoto immigrated to the United States from Japan in elementary school. A self-described shy student and avid reader, she eventually went on to earn a bachelor’s from Wesleyan and an MBA in 1981 from Stanford. After graduation, Kishimoto spent 20 years working as a management consultant for Japanese and American technology entrepreneurs.
In 2001, despite never previously being interested in a political career, Kishimoto ran for local City Council and came in second out of 13 candidates. “It was a total grassroots campaign,” she explained to representatives of Stanford Democrats last night at Old Union. In 2007, she was elected mayor of Palo Alto.
Throughout her political career, Kishimoto’s primary focus has been environmentally sound infrastructure in the Palo Alto region. “If Palo Alto and Stanford, both on the cutting edge, cannot learn how to develop ourselves without having a negative impact on the environment, who can?” she asked Tuesday.
Reflecting on the progress made during her time as a local elected official and her motivation for running for state office, Kishimoto said, “I feel like we got so much done, it was so rewarding. But working in regional, I could see the negative impact of what was happening with our mother ship. I’m running because our wonderful state is broken, and we cannot continue in this direction.”
She said she feels passionately about transportation issues, a passion she wants to carry over to the state legislature. “California is such a car culture,” she said. “But if there’s one thing you can bet on, it’s that 50 years from now, transportation is going to be different. That’s going to be true for all basic types of infrastructure — energy production and use, water and hopefully food, as well.”
Kishimoto said she especially looks forward to the future of Senate Bill 375, a state law compelling areas of California to come up with regional plans to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2013. One of her goals if elected would be to establish Bay Area incentives to build charging stations and other infrastructure to support electric cars.
One member of Stanford Democrats wanted to know how Kishimoto would respond to and work within the political gridlock of Sacramento. Kishimoto replied that she’s not afraid to jump on complex and difficult issues.
“I like to tackle problems that other people think are unsolvable,” she said.
When asked about what differentiates her from the other candidates, Kishimoto responded that she feels her track record of thinking in the long term and with a global perspective both set her apart as a potential Assembly member. She also cited her combination of experience as an elected official and in the private sector.
“I know how to move public policy levers and make things happen,” Kishimoto said. “Plus, I would also be the first woman to represent the district.”