Menlo Park politics: What will hot election issues be? Menlo Park politics: What will hot election issues be? (June 26, 2002)

'Anything that can stir controversy,' one Menlo Park councilman predicts.

By Pam Smith

Almanac Staff Writer

Though no candidates have formally announced that they'll run for Menlo Park's City Council election in November, threats and speculation about what issues will define this year's political race can already be heard around town.

Most recently, two council members speculated that the Menlo Community Association (MCA), a local political group, attempted to make a defining political issue out of proposed changes to the city's home-design review process when the group held its own information session on the topic June 12. The MCA's leaders deny an election-year motive, maintaining that its only purpose was to inform the public.

"They (MCA members) want to create an issue that will get people stirred up, and vote for their guys instead of our guys," said Mayor Steve Schmidt. Councilman Paul Collacchi called a flier distributed by the MCA at the presentation an "election-year scare-tactic."

The MCA's leaders denied that charge. "I want to make sure people understand ... the full range of things that can happen as a result of this ordinance," said Jose Fernandez, chair of the MCA.

The timing was based on the progress of a draft proposal, not the approaching election, Mr. Fernandez said. The council first discussed the completed draft June 4, and is scheduled to discuss it again July 16.

A handful of residents have also, in recent months, warned the City Council that the outcome of hot-button traffic issues -- whether or not to widen a portion of Sand Hill Road, and the very recent traffic-calming project on Santa Cruz Avenue -- will be key at election time.

At the city's last meeting regarding Santa Cruz Avenue, Bob Creamer of Windsor Drive congratulated the two council members (Nicholas Jellins and Paul Collacchi) who had previously voted to remove all elements of the Santa Cruz Avenue project. Then he warned the council that people on the west side of town are organizing.

"The community is watching you," he said. "We're going to be there in November. You can count on us."

Council members Mary Jo Borak, Nicholas Jellins and Steve Schmidt will end their terms this year. All are eligible to run again, but none have declared their candidacy.

Councilman Chuck Kinney made his own prediction for this year's big election issue: "Anything that can stir controversy, I'm sure."
Motivations

Resident Dianne Blake likened the MCA's home-design review postcard invitation to "propaganda." The postcard called the proposed ordinance "an assault on home-owner rights and our environment."

"The intent of the postcard was not to be inflammatory but to get the attention of homeowners," said Mr. Fernandez. The city's mailers and ads are "required to be innocuous" and don't attract more than "the same handful of characters that have been coming to all the meetings," he added.

"We believe these families needed to be made aware of the implications of the proposed ordinance before it is passed, not after," he said.

The MCA spent $2,797 on the postcards, as well as $11 on fliers, said MCA Vice Chair Mickie Winkler, a city housing commissioner.

The flier may not have been properly marked as "paid for by the MCA," as the postcard was, she acknowledged.

The MCA has been concerned about the city's home-design review process for at least 2-1/2 years, said Mr. Fernandez. That, and the decision over whether to widen Menlo Park's portion of Sand Hill Road, were the two issues that led residents to form the MCA before the 2000 election, he said.

The MCA is looking for candidates for the upcoming election who share its outlook on those as well as other traffic issues, said Mr. Fernandez.

He will not run in this election, he said. Of the possible incumbent candidates, he added, "Right now I believe that we would probably tend toward supporting Nicholas (Jellins)."

Mr. Jellins said he has recently begun "exploring the prospect of running for re-election with my private advisers," whom he would not name.

He gave the introduction to the MCA's June 12 presentation, which he said was not motivated by the coming election, but to inform residents. "That's what it was advertised as; that's [what] was discussed, nothing more," he said.

Mr. Jellins did say in his introduction that "the PAC (Political Action Committee) that has elected my colleagues tends to favor neighborhood sensitivity."

The PAC to which he referred is Mid Peninsula Action for Tomorrow (MPACT), founded by Palo Alto and Menlo Park residents before Palo Alto's 1997 election to oppose Stanford University's development proposals along Sand Hill Road, according to Dan Dippery, one of its founders.

MPACT has not taken a formal position on Menlo Park's home-design review, though some members are probably following the issue, said Edie Keating, who chairs MPACT.

"I have kind of mixed feelings about it (myself)," council member Schmidt said of the proposal on the table.

MPACT's Web site says its members "look forward to reviewing the records of incumbent candidates and also look for new candidates with strong sustainability values" for Menlo Park's election.

In the past, MPACT has endorsed Menlo Park council members Paul Collacchi, Chuck Kinney, Mary Jo Borak and Steve Schmidt, said Ms. Keating.

Mr. Schmidt said he will wait to announce whether he'll run this year. "If other people who have my values come forward, I'd be happy to step aside," he said.

Councilwoman Borak recently told the Almanac she remains undecided.

The nomination period runs from July 15 to August 9, said City Clerk Susan Ramos.