City of Palo Alto City Council Councilmember Patrick Burt

According to his Wikipedia page, Pat Burt founded Acteron Corp., a high-tech manufacturing company, and served as CEO from 1984 to 2010. Since then he’s launched two medical device start-ups. The high-tech veteran also has extensive experience in city government, having served on the Palo Alto City Council between 2008 and 2016 and on the Planning and Transportation Commission prior to that. When he ran again in 2020, Burt was able to tout his many supports on the campaign site PatBurt.org, including the Palo Alto Weekly’s endorsement: “Burt will be relentless in pushing for more transparency and responsiveness from city staff and better community outreach and engagement. ... He has never been afraid to voice concerns about city management and to push new and creative ideas.” The top vote-getter in the 2020 election, Burt was tapped to serve as vice mayor in 2021—supported in part by his colleagues because of his years of experience, which they said would serve the city well during the COVID-19 crisis.

Day job: Cofounder of TheraDep Technologies

First elected: 2008

Alma maters: UC Santa Barbara, De Anza College

Notable quote: “I feel capable to be able to help Mayor DuBois and city staff work through these challenges, to adjust our city budget, to really respond to the needs of the community that we have—that are really more people-oriented than ever before—and certain exceptional needs that have emerged from this crisis that didn't even exist beforehand." (Source: Palo Alto Weekly)