Mayor Webster Lincoln - East Palo Alto

Mayor Webster Lincoln - East Palo Alto To improve quality of life, health, and housing security for all members of our community

A truly historic moment during Global Engagement Week 2026. Photos during Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sinaitakala ...
06/14/2026

A truly historic moment during Global Engagement Week 2026. Photos during Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sinaitakala Tukuʻaho’s visit to Google.

I’ll be onstage at Stanford’s commencement address on Sunday. 🙏🏾😎
06/12/2026

I’ll be onstage at Stanford’s commencement address on Sunday. 🙏🏾😎

East Palo Alto’s housing rules are so strict they’re backfiringDear Community members,EPA has the highest inclusionary h...
06/10/2026

East Palo Alto’s housing rules are so strict they’re backfiring

Dear Community members,

EPA has the highest inclusionary housing requirements in San Mateo County: 20% affordable units, with a 35% AMI tier that no other city in the county requires. The idea was to protect our community. The result: a pipeline of 29 approved projects that won’t break ground because the math doesn’t work.

A UC Berkeley/UCLA study published last year modeled exactly this dynamic(https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Inclusionary-Zoning-Paper-April-2024-Final.pdf). Past a certain threshold, stricter affordability requirements don’t produce more affordable housing: they kill projects entirely, producing zero units instead of some. We’re past that threshold.

Our own numbers tell the story: we’ve met our low-income housing goals, but those units came through nonprofit developers and public subsidy, not the IZ ordinance. Meanwhile the IZ ordinance has produced virtually nothing during the same period, and we’re at only 9% of our moderate-income and 5% of above-moderate housing state-mandated RHNA goals. Teachers, nurses, working families are priced out. And when market-rate supply stalls, rents rise for everyone already here, including the legacy residents the ordinance was designed to protect.

An inclusionary housing policy that produces no housing isn’t protecting East Palo Alto. It’s a rule that feels righteous and does nothing.

I have respect for most of my colleagues on the Council and for every community member who showed up tonight because they care about this city’s future, and I do too. I hope we can find a workable path forward together. But waiting another year for a feasibility study to confirm what the data, the research, and our own stalled pipeline are already telling us is not something I’m willing to accept. Doing nothing is not a neutral choice. Updating our IZ ordinance was identified as a council priority more than a year ago. Every month we wait is another month nothing gets built.

Respectfully,
Webster Lincoln
Mayor, East Palo Alto

S/o to all of the California Mayors in attendance at the US Conference of Mayors. Special s/o to LONG BEACH and for hos...
06/09/2026

S/o to all of the California Mayors in attendance at the US Conference of Mayors. Special s/o to LONG BEACH and for hosting, and San Diego mayor for becoming president of the conference. 🇺🇸💪🏾🐻

Focused like . United States Conference for Mayors in Long Beach was amazing.
06/08/2026

Focused like . United States Conference for Mayors in Long Beach was amazing.

Big boy from LA.
06/07/2026

Big boy from LA.

06/07/2026

Thank you to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for joining our meeting in LA’s sister city to talk to mayors about planning for LA28, key issues facing cities, and the power of mayors coming together to solve problems.

S/o to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on her primary victory. ✌🏾
06/05/2026

S/o to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on her primary victory. ✌🏾

Class of 2026: crowned to carry the legacy forward. 👑This past Sunday at University Circle, a whole village showed up to...
06/04/2026

Class of 2026: crowned to carry the legacy forward. 👑

This past Sunday at University Circle, a whole village showed up to claim our graduates. Drums, libation, Kente, and so much love. That’s Ubuntu: I am because we are.

East Palo Alto is proud of you. Now go carry it forward, and reach back for the ones behind you.



📸:

🚨 East Palo Alto, let’s get prepared together! 🚨Join us for our very first City-sponsored Emergency Preparedness Worksho...
06/01/2026

🚨 East Palo Alto, let’s get prepared together! 🚨

Join us for our very first City-sponsored Emergency Preparedness Workshop — packed with the info, resources, and tools you need to keep your household ready for anything.

🎁 Every household that attends gets a FREE emergency preparedness bag (one per household, while supplies last)!
🗣️ A Spanish translator will be on site.

📅 Friday, June 5
⏰ 3:00 – 4:30 p.m.
📍 Community Room at City Hall (2415 University Ave.)

📲 Reserve your spot — text or call 650-200-0814

And don’t head home yet — stick around afterward for the 650 Friday Food Event in the City Hall parking lot! 🍽️

Let’s build a stronger, safer community together. See you there! 💪

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East Palo Alto, CA
94303

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