City of Palo Alto City Council Councilmember Eric Filseth

A native of Wisconsin, Eric Filseth has lived in Palo Alto since 1988, where he and his wife raised their two children. Though he is a proponent of slow growth, Filseth is also known as a centrist on the council. When he was tapped to serve as mayor in 2019, reported the Palo Alto Weekly, his colleague Liz Kniss praised Filseth for helping the council become “a more moderate, less confrontational and a more civilized group of nine.” Filseth is now serving his second term, having won reelection in 2018.

First elected: November 2014

Day job: Board member, Silicon Frontline Technology

Alma maters: UCLA, (master's degree, business administration); Stanford University (bachelor’s degree, electrical engineering)

Notable quote: “We have been and still remain a town of contrast, of variation, a residential college town and a post-industrial high-tech nexus.” (Source: Stanford Daily)