Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

John Barton is an architect and college lecturer who serves on the Palo Alto Unified School District Board. He was first elected in 1997 and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2001. He recently gained attention through his efforts to defend PAUSD, and other Basic Aid Districts, from the governor's attempt to significantly reduce their funds. As a School Board Member, John has also worked to reduce class size, increase academic performance, raise teacher salaries and maintain fiscal discipline. PAUSD is widely considered one of the state and nation's top public school districts.

John is an award winning architect, designer and teacher. He has taught architecture and urban design at the University of California, Berkeley, San Jose State University and Stanford University, where he currently serves as a Lecturer. He has also taught at Caņada Community College and is a regular presenter at local elementary and high schools.

John has an extensive record of community involvement. He served on the board of directors for the Role Model Program, which seeks to provide positive examples for area young people. He is a board member, and past Board Chair of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, Vice-President of the Community Working Group on Homeless Services and serves as Board Secretary of the Redwood City Child Development Center. He serves on Palo Alto's Child Care Advisory Committee and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation's Community Advisory Board. He is a past board member and board president of the Children's Center of the Stanford Community.

John grew up on the mid-Peninsula. His father is a retired law professor at Stanford University, and his mother is a retired lecturer at Santa Clara University. He attended local elementary schools, and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. John received his B.A. and Master's Degrees in architecture from UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley he met and married Lydia Tan, who is Executive Vice-President of BRIDGE Housing Corp, Northern California's largest non-profit housing corporation. They have lived in Palo Alto for 13 years and have two sons, age 16 and 13.