Mayor, small business owner, educator, and neighbor. Pranita Venkatesh is running for City Council to keep San Carlos safe, affordable, and welcoming for every family.
I'm Pranita Venkatesh, Mayor of San Carlos, a small business owner, educator, wife, and mom. San Carlos has been my family's home since 2009, and I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the community that has given us so much.
I immigrated to California from Fiji when I was four years old. I grew up watching my parents work incredibly hard to build a life for our family. They taught me the values that continue to guide me today: work hard, stay humble, treat people with kindness, and speak up when something isn't right.
For more than 30 years, I have worked with children and families. As the owner and director of Paragon Montessori, I understand firsthand the challenges facing parents, educators, and small businesses. As a mom, I also understand how important it is to build a community where every child and every family has the opportunity to thrive.
Since joining the San Carlos City Council, I have focused on practical, thoughtful leadership — keeping our community safe, supporting local businesses, expanding affordable housing options, investing in our parks and public spaces, addressing transportation, protecting our fiscal health, and making sure residents have a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape our city.
San Carlos is more than where I live. It's where my family put down roots, where I built my business, and where I've had the privilege of serving my neighbors. I'm proud of what we've accomplished together, and I'm excited about what comes next.
Five priorities, drawn from three decades of working with San Carlos families and years of hands-on service on the Council.
Public safety comes first. Continuing strong partnerships with our Sheriff's Office, Fire Department, schools, and neighborhoods, while investing in safer streets and the tools needed to protect our community.
Expanding affordable and workforce housing options so teachers, first responders, seniors, and young families can afford to stay in San Carlos — while making sure new growth accounts for traffic, infrastructure, public safety, and neighborhood character.
Great parks and gathering spaces make a great community. Continuing investment in parks, fields, recreation, aquatics, and community facilities, with major investments kept fiscally responsible.
Every public dollar matters. Asking tough questions, protecting our financial stability, maintaining healthy reserves, and making responsible long-term investments in San Carlos.
Proud to have helped bring Lunar New Year and Diwali into our community celebrations — including a Lunar New Year event that drew more than 250 neighbors together to celebrate who we are.
San Carlos should be a community where the people who teach our children, protect our neighborhoods, care for our seniors, run our local businesses, and raise their families can afford to live — not just work. My vision is to preserve San Carlos as a welcoming, multigenerational community by expanding affordable housing opportunities while ensuring new development fits our neighborhoods and is supported by the infrastructure, transportation, schools, parks, and public services residents rely on.
I am proud of our City's investment in Cherry Street Commons, which will provide 33 affordable homes for low-income households and families in downtown San Carlos. The project will include one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.
We can meet our housing responsibilities while planning growth thoughtfully — considering traffic, parking, infrastructure, schools, parks, public safety, and neighborhood character. Housing is not simply about meeting a state-mandated number; it is about ensuring that people at different stages of life and income levels can continue to call San Carlos home.
SMAAPI
San Mateo Labor
San Mateo Democratic Party
AFSCME Local 829Phil Abrams · Twisha Anand · Dean Ballback · Bob Bollier · Hector Camacho (Superintendent of Schools) · Danielle Conkling · Lauren Eyler · Maanasa Gadey · Shruti Goradia · Ashruti Gupta · David Hiroshima · Tina Hiroshima · Jessica Khosravy · Moe Khosravy · Sarah Kinahan · Madhura Kumar · Carla Leibowitz · David Leibowitz · Jon Levinson · Boris Lipkin · Pooja Mehra · Sailesh Mehra · Shuchi Mehra · Divya Mittal · Jessica Myers · Tracy Park · Surendra Pathak · Brian Perkins · Lotika Rao · Purnima Renjen · Suresh Renjen · Susan Rose · Sara Ryan · Josh Saffren · Dan Schmidt · Alexander Seeber · Linda Sheu · Shivani Tripathi · Purvi Zavery
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