Meet Cari
Cari Templeton is a 19-year resident of Palo Alto having moved here from Atlanta via Germany to pursue her technical career at SLAC and Google, where she worked for over 10 years.
Since leaving Google in 2017, Cari has been a public servant, starting with her work as a Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commissioner in 2018, Vice Chair of Valley Water’s Measure S Oversight Committee since 2021, and most recently as a District Representative for Senator Josh Becker (2021-2023). Cari also volunteers for community nonprofits focusing on voter education and empowerment, parent-teacher communities, and promoting the election of women.
Before moving to Palo Alto, Cari grew up in a working-class family, where her father was an entrepreneur who invented and built special-purpose industrial robots. When she wasn’t hanging out with him at his shop, Cari attended public schools until college and was the first person in her family to earn a postgraduate degree. She has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Classics from Vanderbilt University, and a Master of Liberal Arts from Stanford University.
Priorities
Affordable Housing +
Create more affordable housing with a focus on creating safe, walkable communities and fostering retail recovery.
Improve Green Space and Parks
Take concrete steps to protect and expand open space in Palo Alto as we add housing to the City.
Safety Infrastructure
Invest in safety-related infrastructure improvements that will allow our city to combat both climate change and traffic while keeping our residents safe.
State Senator
Josh Becker
“Cari provided valuable insight into key community concerns: our changing environment, wildfires, floods, insurance, gun violence, the fentanyl crisis, teen mental health, homelessness, and El Camino Real improvements. She has her finger on the pulse of the community. I'm proud to support her.”
– State Senator Josh Becker