Palo Alto City Council · Nov 3, 2026

Gary Gechlik

Candidate for City Council

8 candidates · 3 seats6 sourced positions

Gary Gechlik is running for Palo Alto City Council in the Nov 3, 2026 election; 8 candidates are running for 3 seats.

Vote-by-mail ballots start going out · Mon, Oct 5, 2026

Today

Emergency medicine physician at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. He holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and practiced law in the nonprofit sector. This is his first run for public office.

Gary Gechlik and Brian Hamachek filed forms saying they do not expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 in this election. Palo Alto Online · Sep 25, 2026

Where Gary Gechlik stands: positions on the record

Housing2 sourced positions

Named his two issues as respect for city staff and no skyscrapers downtown; says housing for state mandates should go near Highway 101 rather than downtown or near California Avenue.
“For me, two issues: respect to staff that work for Palo Alto, all of them. Second, no skyscrapers downtown”
Own statementPalo Alto Online · Aug 10, 2026
as reported by Palo Alto Online from the Sept. 15 Chamber of Commerce forum; not a direct quote
Said Palo Alto should pursue a large mixed-use project with retail and housing like Santana Row in San Jose.
Forum answerPalo Alto Online (Chamber of Commerce forum, Sept. 15) · Sep 16, 2026

Public safety1 sourced position

as reported by Palo Alto Online from the Sept. 15 Chamber of Commerce forum; not a direct quote
Supports automated license plate reader cameras with proper safeguards, saying they can help solve hit-and-run cases.
Forum answerPalo Alto Online (Chamber of Commerce forum, Sept. 15) · Sep 16, 2026

City Hall2 sourced positions

Said the city is well run and the council does a good job.
“The city is well run on the whole. And I think we’re facing some headwinds, and the City Council does a good job”
Forum answerPalo Alto Online (Chamber of Commerce forum, Sept. 15) · Sep 16, 2026
as reported by the Palo Alto Daily Post; not a direct quote
Said he had no complaints about City Manager Ed Shikada and gave him an A+ grade.
Own statementPalo Alto Daily Post · Sep 29, 2026

RVs and oversized vehicles1 sourced position

as reported by Palo Alto Online from the Sept. 15 Chamber of Commerce forum; not a direct quote
Said he would look to cities where RV parking is not an issue, such as Atherton and Los Altos, to learn from their policies.
Forum answerPalo Alto Online (Chamber of Commerce forum, Sept. 15) · Sep 16, 2026

Also running for City Council

All 8 Palo Alto candidates →

Every claim here links to its source and was checked against it before publishing. How this guide works →

See something wrong? Report an error

Something wrong or missing? Tell us what and where, with a link to a source if you have one. Reports feed the next verification run.