Menlo council race: Schmidt, Borak call it quits Menlo council race: Schmidt, Borak call it quits (August 07, 2002)

** Two of three Menlo council incumbents say they won't run again. Meanwhile, councilman's son enters race.

By Pam Smith

Almanac Staff Writer

Council members Steve Schmidt and Mary Jo Borak have decided not to run for re-election this November, they said Monday. Meanwhile, the 33-year-old son of Councilman Chuck Kinney has decided to join the race.

That could mean a two-Kinney council.

Mr. Schmidt's, Ms. Borak's, and Councilman Nicholas Jellins' terms on the five-member council end this year, but the elder Mr. Kinney's term won't end until 2004.

Mr. Jellins, Planning Commissioner Bill Halleck, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Lee Duboc, and Linfield Oaks resident Michael Meyer have all said they intend to run.

Only Mr. Halleck, Mr. Meyer and Eric Kinney had filed their nomination papers by the Almanac's press deadline Monday afternoon. Four other people, including Housing Commissioner Mickie Winkler, had taken papers out but had not confirmed they will run.

In addition to Ms. Winkler, they include Belle Haven resident Glenn Ledet, Stanford graduate student John Haller Jr., and Willows resident Kirsten Keith.

Ms. Borak said she all but made her decision not to run two years ago, for "personal" reasons that she declined to describe. She vacillated recently, she said, as supporters urged her to run again, but ultimately decided that four years on the City Council -- and five on the Planning Commission before that -- are enough.

"I need more time for me, and the council takes up a lot of time," she said.

Mr. Schmidt also noted the time-consuming nature of the council as a factor in his decision.

"I actually always thought that I would limit myself to two terms," he said. "The time that is required to do effective council work is in conflict with what I want to do in the future," such as "be retired, build that mountain cottage, (and) travel." He has served on the City Council for eight years.

Some residents' council-aimed criticism in recent months, over issues such as a traffic-calming project on Santa Cruz Avenue, were not a factor in his decision, said Mr. Schmidt.

But that traffic-calming project, as well as a proposed bicycle/pedestrian tunnel and development issues in his Linfield Oaks neighborhood, were factors in the younger Kinney's decision to follow in his father's footsteps, said Eric Kinney.

"I didn't suggest it to him at all," said Chuck Kinney. He lightheartedly recounted a recent conversation between father and son: "I said, 'After you've seen me and what I've gone through, you still want to do this? I thought I was an example of what not to do.' " He added: "I've given him fatherly advice. It's a lot of time and effort, and he's young."

"I'd like to make sure the citizens know exactly what's happening," and "tighten the straps" on the city's checkbook, said Eric Kinney.

Among his stated ideas are helping neighborhoods post platforms, or issues of concern, on the city's Web site, and developing a foundation to help the city raise money through private sources. Mr. Kinney, a financial adviser for Morgan Stanley, says he helps set up foundations for individuals as part of his job.

"I've always wanted to be involved politically," said Eric Kinney. He didn't try for a city commission first, often the stepping-stone to the council, because his father's position presents a conflict of interest, he said. (Council members vote on appointments to city commissions.)

His community involvement includes volunteering for the campaign to pass Measure T, last year's recreation and cultural facilities bond measure; working with the Linfield Oaks Homeowners Association (most recently to oppose a bicyclist/pedestrian tunnel); serving on the board of the homeowners association for the condominium complex he lives in; and serving as an adviser to the board of the Foothill-De Anza Foundation, which raises and invests funds for two community colleges.

Housing Commissioner Mickie Winkler, co-chair of the Menlo Community Association, said she is likely to become a candidate, unless another steps forward who would fit well on a three-person slate with Councilman Nicholas Jellins and Commissioner Lee Duboc.

A retired marketing executive, Ms. Winkler is a strong critic of the current "council majority" -- which she defines as the four members supported by the community group MPACT, or all but Mr. Jellins.

Belle Haven resident Glenn Ledet said he has decided he won't run, because he hasn't found the financial resources for an election campaign.

Kirsten Keith, one of seven residents who make up the city's Community Mediation Service, and John Haller Jr., who last fall started an informal reading program for the homeless outside the main library, could not be reached by the Almanac's deadline Monday.

On July 22 Ms. Keith told the Almanac she was "considering" running.
Majority flip?

"It's a difficult decision, because in a way I feel like we're throwing the city to the wolves," said Mr. Schmidt, of his and Ms. Borak's decisions not to run.

Of those who have stepped forward so far, he would throw his "enthusiastic" support only behind Bill Halleck, he said.

Mr. Schmidt and Ms. Borak are on what is widely perceived to be a council majority with councilmen Paul Collacchi and Chuck Kinney. Though the so-called majority does not play out in cut-and-dried fashion on every vote or every issue, council members sometimes feed the perception.

Councilman Jellins has pointed out in recent public appearances that his colleagues were all endorsed in their last elections by one local political group, and he by another -- Mid Peninsula Action for Tomorrow (MPACT) and the Menlo Community Association (MCA), respectively. Earlier this summer, Councilman Schmidt referred to potential MCA candidates as "their guys," which he contrasted with "our guys."

But policy decisions cannot always be predicted based on the majority-minority breakdown.

For example, last winter council members Schmidt, Collacchi and Borak voted to kill a proposed affordable housing project in the downtown area, while Mr. Jellins and Mr. Kinney dissented.

Mr. Schmidt, previously a swing vote against the "one percent for art" ordinance, joined Mr. Jellins and Mr. Kinney to pass it in late spring. The new law requires developers of certain projects to provide or fund art pieces for the public.

Eric Kinney says he doesn't expect to vote in line with his father on every issue, if elected. As an example, he threw out the recently debated idea to build a bicycle/pedestrian tunnel. On that issue, he said, he would have been most in line with Councilman Jellins.

Mr. Kinney said that he has been approached to join a "slate" of candidates, adding, "I haven't made up my mind yet" whether to join it. He would not say who had approached him.

Ms. Duboc has gotten an ad-hoc group of residents together in order to put forth three candidates, including herself and Nicholas Jellins, to take the three available seats. The group calls itself Menlo Park First.

If any one of the three incumbents does not file to run for re-election by August 9 at 5 p.m., the deadline to file will be extended (for all except the incumbents) to August 14 at 5 p.m., said City Clerk Susan Ramos.

Candidates must be registered voters and residents of the city. Call 858-3381.