Kevin Park

Background

Kevin Park has lived in Santa Clara for about 30 years. He earned a bachelor's degree from Caltech in 1993 and a master's from Stanford in 1995, and spent three decades as an engineer in technology, including jobs at Unisys, Google, DoorDash and Digitate. In his last working years he designed AI services for data centers, and he left Datatron in 2022 to focus on his daughter and his council work. In 2020 he listed his political affiliation as independent and unseated District 4 Councilmember Teresa O'Neill, 57.4 percent to 42.6 percent. His endorsers that year included former Councilmember Patty Mahan, state Sen. Jim Beall, Assemblymember Evan Low, Councilmembers Raj Chahal and Karen Hardy, and The Mercury News. The 49ers also endorsed him and put $3 million into a committee backing him and three other council candidates.

In office

Park was one of five councilmembers named in the October 2022 civil grand jury report "Unsportsmanlike Conduct," which said the group voted in ways favorable to the 49ers. The report described an unnamed councilmember who kept a camera off during meetings while allegedly receiving messages from team representatives. San José Spotlight said that member was believed to be Park, who reportedly turned his camera off because of his young child; he did not respond to the outlet. The council majority filed a response to the report, and Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Councilmember Kathy Watanabe filed a dissent from it.

At a February 7, 2023 meeting he left a book titled "All My Friends are Dead" for the office of the mayor's special advisor, with notes changing "dead" to "termed out." Four residents petitioned for a council discussion of his conduct, and the council voted 2-5 against scheduling it.

In 2024 he criticized Gillmor, including over her last-minute proposal to cut the city's infrastructure bond. Gillmor endorsed O'Neill against him, and 49ers-affiliated committees spent in support of incumbents including Park. He led 58.9 percent to 41.1 percent in the count of November 8. He said he had tried to open a family homeless shelter on Benton Street, which fell through when state funding could not be secured.

The Silicon Valley Voice reported that he voted for seven of eight Silicon Valley Power rate increases, a combined 39 percent by its count, and joined Gillmor in dissenting on the 2026 increase. At the October 6, 2026 meeting he argued that the utility's expansion serves data centers more than residents.

Debbie Tryforos, one of four community members who petitioned the council to discuss his behavior, called Park an "embarrassment" over the February 2023 book incident and said colleagues who declined to take up the matter would share responsibility (Silicon Valley Voice, March 22, 2023).

On the ballot

Park is a candidate for mayor of Santa Clara on November 3, 2026, an open seat because Mayor Lisa Gillmor terms out in December. His ballot designation is City of Santa Clara Councilmember, District 4. The other candidates are Mike Wiltberger, Armando "Gary" Ferraris, Councilmember Karen Hardy, David Kertes and Kathy Watanabe. He lists fiscal responsibility, reduced spending and keeping libraries, pools and parks as priorities. Through September 24 he had raised $5,500, including a $2,100 loan to himself, and he agreed to the city's voluntary spending limit. A 49ers-funded committee is spending to support Ferraris and oppose Watanabe and Kertes, the Silicon Valley Voice reported. A win would open his District 4 seat, which runs to December 2028.