Mayor Hillis’ Campaign Claims Repeatedly Fail Scrutiny
Updated: 31 minutes ago
Public records contradict Mayor Hillis' claims about widespread resident support for autonomous shuttles and fail to substantiate his assertions of years-long involvement in the initiative. They also fail to support his claimed personal credit for obtaining a $508,000 federal grant.
Moraga Mayor Kerry Hillis has made some extraordinary claims while campaigning for reelection. He says he “helped conceive” an autonomous shuttle for Lamorinda, worked on the idea with Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) Executive Director Tim Haile “for my entire term on the council,” and persuaded CCTA to conduct a scientifically valid survey of Lamorinda residents. He claims he “got every Lamorinda household polled” and triumphantly declared “BOOM: 72% of us want it.” Separately, Hillis claims “As Mayor I secured” a $508,000 federal grant for a Moraga Way emergency-access study.
After nearly four weeks of investigation, including public-records requests to both the Town of Moraga and CCTA seeking communications dating back to 2022, SMARTMoraga found substantial discrepancies. Neither agency provided records substantiating Hillis’ claimed role in conceiving the autonomous-shuttle initiative, his claimed collaboration with Haile before 2025, or his assertion that CCTA commissioned the survey at his urging. Regional transportation agencies had been studying on-demand shuttles in Lamorinda since 2015, researching autonomous shuttles by 2020, and explicitly contemplating an autonomous-shuttle pilot in Lamorinda by 2022 — before Hillis joined the Council. His earliest involvement identified in the records provided dates to 2025.
The survey claims are more directly contradicted by the evidence. CCTA conducted an existing countywide, opt-in survey — not a scientifically representative poll of every Lamorinda household. Only 123 respondents identified as being from Lamorinda were included among the survey respondents, and just 116 answered the question about on-demand shuttle service. That question did not even ask about autonomous vehicles. The results do not establish that 72% of Lamorinda residents support the proposal Hillis described. Moreover, records show CCTA had provided Hillis with survey materials months before he made these campaign claims. When SMARTMoraga repeatedly asked him to produce the survey supporting his statements, he did not provide it.
The federal grant tells a similar story of claimed personal accomplishment unsupported by the records examined. Former Moraga Public Works Director Shawn Knapp conceived the Moraga Way project in 2018, and Moraga and Orinda staff subsequently advanced it with regional transportation partners. When the $508,000 award was announced, Town Manager Scott Mitnick specifically credited those individuals and agencies. Hillis himself praised the staff’s work before later claiming he had personally secured the grant.
These are not minor discrepancies. They concern specific claims the Mayor has made about his accomplishments, his involvement in public initiatives, and the supposed preferences of Lamorinda residents. The survey assertions are contradicted by the underlying documents, while his broader claims of personal accomplishment and years-long leadership remain unsubstantiated by the records. Residents are entitled to an accurate account of both what the public supports and what their elected officials actually accomplished.
The investigation and supporting evidence
The findings above summarize SMARTMoraga’s investigation. The clickable sections below provide a detailed examination of Hillis' original statements, historical planning documents, actual survey findings, and government correspondence.
1. “I Helped Conceive” the Autonomous Shuttle
In September campaign posts, Hillis made two specific assertions:
“Same for the autonomous Lamorinda shuttle I helped conceive…”
And:
“…an idea I've been working on with Tim Haile at CCTA for my entire term on the council…”
The historical planning documents establish that the underlying transportation concepts were under consideration well before Hillis’ documented participation.
On-Demand Shuttles: Studied in 2015
The December 2015 Lamorinda Service Plan, prepared for the Lamorinda Program Management Committee, evaluated conventional shuttles, flexible transit routes, neighborhood-to-BART connections, and technology-enabled on-demand transportation.
The study considered services responding to passenger requests rather than operating exclusively on traditional fixed routes.
On-demand transportation in Lamorinda was already being actively studied seven years before Hillis joined the Council.
Autonomous Shuttles: Studied in 2020, Proposed for Lamorinda in 2022
CCTA's interest in autonomous shuttles dates back at least to 2020, when its I-680 Transportation Habits Survey examined emerging transportation alternatives, including shared autonomous shuttles. The agency conducted follow-up research in 2022.
CCTA's published survey history documents both efforts.
By October 2022, autonomous transportation had also entered Lamorinda's regional planning.
The October 2022 Draft Lamorinda Action Plan, page 105, specifically proposed examining the feasibility of a pilot automated-driving system, identifying an autonomous shuttle as an example.
CCTA was already researching autonomous shuttles two years before Hillis joined the Council, and the possibility of deploying them specifically in Lamorinda was documented before he took office in December 2022.
Hillis’ Earliest Documented Involvement: 2025
Hillis received formal regional transportation assignments involving County Connection and the Southwest Area Transportation Committee in 2025.
His own notes document a July 2025 conversation with Haile concerning microtransit and transportation surveys.
But SMARTMoraga specifically requested records covering Hillis’ Council tenure beginning in 2022. Those requests encompassed communications with Town staff, fellow councilmembers, transportation officials, and other participants, as well as internal agency discussions concerning the initiative.
Despite Hillis’ claim that he had worked with Haile on the autonomous-shuttle initiative since joining the Council in 2022, neither the Town nor CCTA provided records substantiating that collaboration before 2025.
Neither agency produced records substantiating Hillis' claimed role in conceiving the autonomous-shuttle initiative.
CCTA has not responded to our subsequent request to confirm whether any earlier responsive correspondence exists.
The records establish Hillis’ participation in later transportation discussions. They do not substantiate the earlier history of personal involvement he described to voters.
The autonomous-shuttle proposal predates Hillis’ Council tenure. His earliest documented involvement in the records provided comes more than two years after he took office.
2. “BOOM: 72% of Us Want It”
Hillis' assertions about public support are particularly specific.
In a September campaign post, he declared:
“At my urging last year, CCTA commissioned a scientifically valid survey of all of Lamorinda, and 72% of residents across all three communities said they want exactly this: on-demand, autonomous, local.”
In another post, Hillis claimed he had:
“…got every Lamorinda household polled on in 2025. BOOM: 72% of us want it.”
CCTA did not conduct the survey Hillis described.
No Survey of Every Lamorinda Household
CCTA conducted a voluntary, countywide online survey as part of its established transportation-planning process — not a household-by-household poll directed specifically toward Lamorinda.
Its countywide analysis included 1,615 completed responses, with 123 respondents identified as being from Lamorinda. Just 116 Lamorinda respondents answered the question about on-demand shuttle service.
That is not remotely equivalent to polling every Lamorinda household.
Nor was it a probability-based survey designed to produce representative results for Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda. It therefore cannot reliably establish what percentage of all Lamorinda residents supports a particular transportation proposal.
The Survey Didn't Even Ask About Autonomous Shuttles
The relevant question asked respondents to rate their interest in on-demand shuttle service on a scale from zero to ten.
It did not ask whether they supported autonomous or driverless vehicles.
Those are fundamentally different propositions. Residents might welcome on-demand transportation operated by a professional driver while opposing driverless vehicles on local streets.
Yet Hillis presented the survey as evidence that 72% of Lamorinda residents wanted autonomous, on-demand transportation.
The survey did not ask that, and the survey did not measure that.
What About the 72%?
Approximately 71% of the weighted Lamorinda responses fell within the 6–10 range on the survey's interest scale.
That is close to Hillis’ claimed 72%, but it measured varying degrees of interest in on-demand shuttle service — not support for autonomous vehicles among all Lamorinda residents.
Scoring six or higher is not equivalent to endorsing implementation of a specific proposal, particularly one the question didn't address.
Nor can the preferences of a small, self-selected respondent group be reliably generalized to an entire community.
Hillis presented limited expressions of interest in one type of service as proof that nearly three-quarters of Lamorinda residents supported a different, more specific service.
The underlying survey does not support that conclusion.
Nor Was the Survey Commissioned Specifically at Hillis’ Urging
CCTA had conducted transportation surveys concerning autonomous shuttles since at least 2020, with follow-up research in 2022.
Separately, its 2023 countywide transportation-planning work program expressly anticipated public surveys and community outreach.
CCTA had already begun its countywide transportation survey program in December 2024, months before Hillis' documented July 2025 discussion with Haile. Its Phase 1 survey included questions about driverless transportation, while the subsequent Phase 2 survey — the one containing the Lamorinda responses — was part of the same ongoing planning process.
Hillis’ own July 2025 notes describe CCTA as already planning that second phase of outreach.
The records do not substantiate his assertion that CCTA commissioned a scientifically valid survey of Lamorinda residents specifically at his urging.
Rather, they document an existing countywide survey from which responses by 123 Lamorinda residents were subsequently isolated and analyzed separately.
Asked for the Survey, Hillis Didn't Provide It
SMARTMoraga first requested the survey from Hillis on September 28.
He replied:
“Absolutely, I'll reach out to request a copy of the study in the morning from CCTA.”
On October 9, after another inquiry, Hillis explained that his understanding came from:
“…verbal updates from CCTA to SWAT and to the Lamorinda participants…”
On October 13, Hillis advised that he had contacted Haile and requested that CCTA staff follow up directly.
More than three weeks after our initial request, Hillis had not provided a survey substantiating his campaign statements.
On October 21, Hillis again asserted that “72% of Lamorinda households said they want it” despite having failed to substantiate his earlier claims when repeatedly asked.
But the public records establish another significant fact:
CCTA had already provided Hillis with survey materials, including results and methodology, in December 2025.
Hillis' own October 2025 notes also acknowledged the countywide nature of the survey and the limited Lamorinda response group.
The records therefore establish that he had access to information about the survey's actual scope and findings well before making his public campaign claims.
He subsequently characterized the survey in ways its methodology and questions do not support — and failed to provide substantiation when directly asked.
SMARTMoraga ultimately examined the underlying survey materials through its public-records investigation.
They do not establish the sweeping conclusions Hillis presented to voters.
3. “As Mayor I Secured” the $508,000 Federal Grant
Hillis' October 9 campaign post included another claim of personal accomplishment:
“As Mayor I secured the $508,000 federal study for a Moraga Way emergency lane…”
The grant is real. It funds the Moraga Way Safety and Connectivity Planning Study, a joint Moraga–Orinda project examining approximately 4.7 miles of Moraga Way.
The study addresses pedestrian and bicycle safety, transportation connectivity, and a potential separated multiuse pathway that could also provide emergency access.
But the central issue is Hillis’ assertion that he personally secured the federal award.
Shawn Knapp Conceived the Project in 2018
Former Moraga Public Works Director Shawn Knapp began developing the concept in 2018, following completion of the Moraga Way Improvement Project.
His proposal involved a separated pedestrian and bicycle pathway that could also serve as an emergency-access route during disasters.
In a December 2025 retirement interview with Lamorinda Weekly, Knapp explicitly identified the proposal as his own initiative.
A February 2026 article about the federal award again identified Knapp as the project's architect and documented its origins in 2018.
The project was conceived approximately four years before Hillis joined the Town Council.
Town Staff and Regional Partners Advanced the Grant
Town records document the efforts of Knapp, incoming Interim Public Works Director Nate Levine, Police Chief Jon King, Orinda officials, CCTA, and other regional partners in developing the proposal and pursuing funding.
When the federal grant was announced in December 2025, Town Manager Scott Mitnick specifically credited those individuals and agencies for making the award possible.
His contemporaneous message did not identify Hillis as the person responsible for securing the grant.
Knapp likewise attributed the successful grant effort to extensive collaboration among participating agencies and technical assistance from CCTA.
Hillis Credited Staff — Then Claimed Personal Credit
The Mayor's own correspondence provides a revealing comparison.
Following the award, Hillis congratulated Town staff on their work.
In a December 29 email, he wrote:
“As lead agency we have earned the right to be lead on the release and get credit for your staff's phenomenal work.”
Ten months later, while campaigning for reelection, Hillis told residents:
“As Mayor I secured” the $508,000 grant.
The project's history is documented. Knapp conceived it in 2018. Moraga and Orinda staff, working with CCTA and other regional partners, developed and advanced it. The Town Manager's contemporaneous message specifically credited their contributions.
After being publicly challenged about his claim of personally securing the grant, Hillis defended his statement by citing his work on Town transportation priorities and advocacy for future project funding. He also asserted that councilmembers take “collective and individual responsibility and credit for all actions taken by our government within our purview...”
But collective responsibility for Town actions is not the same as personally securing a particular federal grant.
More importantly, the records examined do not identify specific actions by Hillis establishing his claimed role in obtaining the $508,000 award.
Conclusion: What the Records Establish
There is a difference between helping advance an existing transportation initiative and claiming credit for having helped conceive it.
There is a difference between participating in discussions during 2025 and claiming sustained collaboration dating to 2022.
There is a difference between gauging interest in on-demand transportation among just 116 voluntary Lamorinda respondents through an existing countywide planning process and claiming that, at your urging, every Lamorinda household was polled and the results scientifically established that 72% of residents support autonomous vehicles.
And there is a difference between a grant awarded during an official's tenure and an award that official can substantiate having personally secured.
The public record documents the history of these initiatives, the survey's actual purpose, scope, and findings, and the contributions of the agencies and employees responsible for advancing the Moraga Way project and securing its federal grant. On multiple significant points, that record does not substantiate the Mayor's claims.
Those are the facts available for residents to examine.
