reaching his term limit in the State Senate. He was re-elected in 2016 with 89 percent of the vote and ran unopposed for re-election in 2020. As Supervisor, Simitian is credited with saving the 400 units of affordable housing at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, and he has proposed the building of affordable teacher housing in Palo Alto for teachers across the county. He also successfully pushed the County to fund multiple new playgrounds accessible to special needs children, following the creation of Palo Alto's Magical Bridge Playground. Simitian has advanced multiple privacy-related initiatives at the county level. Under his guidance, Santa Clara County became "one of the first in the country" to hire a privacy specialist in a designated role to oversee its data-driven programs. He also secured passage of a surveillance ordinance, the first of its kind in the United States, requiring that police forces get explicit permission for new surveillance technology. Simitian pushed for more civilian oversight for Sheriff and county jails and secured approval for body-worn cameras for Sheriff's Deputies and jail guards. Personal life Joe Simitian is married to Mary Hughes, a Bay Area political consultant. Simitian proposed to Hughes on election night in 1996 upon being elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. References External links Campaign website Ballotpedia Election History – Join California 1953 births Living people American businesspeople American diplomats American people of Armenian descent California city council members County supervisors in California California lawyers Democratic Party California state senators Colorado College alumni Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Palo Alto High School alumni Mayors of Palo Alto, California School board members in California Stanford University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni 21st-century American politicians Ethnic Armenian politicians