Town of Los Altos Hills Town Council Councilmember Lisa Schmidt

Talk about a squeaker: Lisa Schmidt was the third-highest vote getter in the 2020 election for Los Altos Hill Town Council, earning her one of the three open seats. But the close finish triggered a mandatory recount, with the exact same result. In the end, reported TV station KPIX, Schmidt had just one vote more than the fourth-placed Jay Sutaria, who ran on an informal slate with the other winners, Linda Swan and Stanley Mok.

A town resident since 1992, Schmidt has volunteered with the Palo Alto Unified School District and the Peninsula Open Space Trust.

First elected: Nov. 3, 2020

Day job: President, Home Energy Analytics Inc.

Alma maters: Stanford University (master’s degree, English, philosophy, and literary criticism); University of Texas at Austin (bachelor’s degree, electrical engineering)

Notable quote: “I really want to work with other residents and people in the town. What do they think is important and what do we need to do as a community to make ourselves more resilient, more inclusive and better stewards of the environment and help with reducing climate impacts?” —Lisa Schmidt, Los Altos Online