Q&A: Palo Alto Vice Mayor pledges safety for international students, calls housing inequality an ‘existential threat’

Palo Alto’s new Vice Mayor Greer Stone is a familiar face in local politics — he previously served as the Mayor of Palo Alto in 2024 and Vice Mayor in 2023. A Palo Alto resident since kindergarten, Stone involved himself in the community beyond City Hall as the former Student Activities Director of Palo Alto High School.

Stone was elected the Vice Mayor of Palo Alto during the Palo Alto city council meeting on Jan. 5. He narrowly won the vice-mayoral race, earning four out of seven total votes. According to newly elected Mayor Vicki Veenker, Stone’s “resident first mindset” makes him a good fit for the position. 

Veenker did not respond to The Daily’s request for interview.

On Jan. 15, Stone sat down with The Daily to share his thoughts on the local wealth gap, housing market and the international community, offering specific policy proposals to address housing issues and emphasizing the importance of collaboration between the city and Stanford. 

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): I want to start with your biggest priority this year – housing. Why do you believe this issue is specifically urgent at this time for Palo Alto residents?

Greer Stone (GS): The affordable housing crisis in Palo Alto and the region is nothing new. But right now, I think we’re feeling it a bit more than in the past. In particular, because of the growing income inequality in Silicon Valley.

San Jose State [University] puts out the Silicon Valley Pain Index every year. The [2025] index showed that the wealth divide in Silicon Valley has widened at about twice the rate compared to the rest of the United States in the past decade. 15% of the region’s wealth is held by just nine households. The top 10% of households hold 70% of the wealth, while the bottom half holds just 1%.

We’re seeing this growing wealth gap. We’re seeing more and more housing being taken off the market by wealthy individuals to use as investment tools or for non-residential purposes—home gyms, private offices, et cetera. I think there is a lot that needs to be done now to try to level the playing field.

As a region, I really think it’s an existential threat. We are closely reaching the precipice where we’re going to start really seeing the impacts when teachers like myself, or nurses, plumbers, electricians—those who work in our service industry—are not able to live anywhere near these communities. What’s gonna be the incentive for them to come work here when they can’t afford to live here? These issues are just being compounded and accelerating at an alarming rate.

TSD: Regarding the issues renters are facing, what specific policy tools is the city using to address the lack of data and potential predatory behavior?

GS: One of the things that we passed a couple of years ago, which was pretty controversial amongst landlords, was to implement a rental registry. We never really had good data in the area of the rental market, vacancy rates and rent increases.

We’re actually going to be reviewing the first batch of data that’s now coming in from that rental registry in the next month or so. This will allow us to really understand what average renters are facing in Palo Alto regarding rental increases and the maybe predatory nature of some landlords. Getting that data is going to be really beneficial for the city to understand appropriate next steps.

TSD: You have also mentioned a concept called “ADU.” How would that work to lower housing costs?

GS: An ADU is an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Currently under our city ordinance, you can rent those ADUs to people, but you cannot sell them. One thing I’m interested in exploring is, can we essentially do a “condo-ization” of these ADUs where a homeowner would be able to sell the ADU on their land?

The reason behind that is if somebody is going to sell an ADU, they’d be selling that for far less than the price of a regular single-family home. The average home price in Palo Alto is about $3.5 million. Let’s say somebody is selling an ADU for a million dollars—that might allow a family that might not traditionally be able to buy into our housing market to have an entry-level point to start building equity.

TSD: Beyond housing, you’ve focused heavily on mental health. How do you plan to deepen the relationship between the City and Stanford on issues like this?

GS: We always welcome Stanford’s expertise and passion in this area. My focus this year is really going to be on helping facilitate the new partnership the city has entered into with the JED Foundation, which is one of the leading organizations addressing youth mental health and teen suicide.

I’d love to find opportunities for the city and Stanford to have more of a symbiotic relationship. I think we could assist Stanford’s psychology programs by providing opportunities for clinics that they could do here in Palo Alto in real time, working with our nonprofits and community services. If Stanford is interested, we are definitely interested as well.

TSD: For Stanford’s international community, who may feel targeted or vulnerable under current national atmospheres, what is the city’s stance?

GS: First, I empathize with them. I can’t imagine being an international student right now, living in the United States at a time when immigrants and international students are being treated with such suspicion and disdain.

The message I hope they hear is that this region, and in particular the city of Palo Alto, really embraces diversity. The city is committed to their safety and inclusion. We will do all that we can under the power of the law to protect their rights and to keep out ICE agents or anyone else who wishes to do them harm. We’re here for them, we’re going to protect them at all costs, and we hope for them to feel a sense of safety and belonging here.

TSD: Finally, do you have a message for Stanford students who want to engage more with the City Council?

GS: We are always open to suggestions. I know there are a lot of brilliant minds over there at Stanford. While I really don’t know what Stanford students think about Palo Alto or the Palo Alto City Council, we’d love to hear more from you. 

I understand what it’s like being a student — you really just kind of get lost in the university’s culture. But just outside of your campus, you have a beautiful, fun, dynamic city to explore. We’re always looking for better ways to partner with Stanford University and with its students.

We’d love to hear more from Stanford students as far as what it is that you all are looking for in terms of housing affordability, mental health services or entertainment options. I would just encourage students to reach out and get more engaged.

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