Menlo Park: Lorie Sinnott 'resigned' to election loss Menlo Park: Lorie Sinnott 'resigned' to election loss (November 24, 2004)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

The ballots are still being counted, but Menlo Park City Council candidate Lorie Sinnott said Monday that she is "fairly resigned" that she won't win.

According to San Mateo County elections officials, Andrew Cohen's lead over Ms. Sinnott had slipped to 48 votes on November 18, down from 87 the week before. But as of the Almanac's press time, there weren't many ballots left to be counted -- fewer than 500 countywide, officials estimated.

"I don't see much of a chance of catching the votes at this point. I've already called Andy and said, 'Are you ready to work?'" Ms. Sinnott said.

As of November 18, Mr. Cohen, a retired workers' compensation judge, had 5,608 votes to Ms. Sinnott's 5,560. As for the other candidates in the contest for two seats on the council, Kelly Fergusson easily took the first seat with 6,369 votes, and Michael Lambert came in fourth place with 5,246.

Elections officials were scheduled to release another update on the count late Monday afternoon, after the Almanac's press time.

The ballots that remain to be counted are typically those that have been damaged in some way, perhaps in the mail or by having something spilled on them, county elections manager David Tom said.

It is not known how many of the remaining ballots are from Menlo Park, he said.

Elections officials are required by law to officially certify the results by November 30. That means the race should be decided by the first Tuesday in December, when newly elected Menlo Park City Council members take their seats.

In addition, the elections office is required to do a manual recount of at least 1 percent of votes in all the races in the county, Mr. Tom said. He added that his office typically does a recount of 3 to 5 percent of the votes for added accuracy.

Once the election is certified, any resident in the voting area can request a recount within five days of certification, Mr. Tom said. The requester would have to cover the cost, which varies depending on how large the voting area is and whether the recount is a full or partial one, he said.

Ms. Sinnott said she didn't anticipate requesting a recount, but that she might consider it if the final count is dramatically close -- with a margin of fewer than 10 votes, for example.

For now, though, the planning commissioner said she's enjoying some down time. She said the campaign was "stressful" and that she's still smarting from being labeled a developer by opponents.

"You can tell people I do have a development underway: 20 gingerbread houses," Ms. Sinnott joked to an Almanac reporter. "There are going to be a lot of impacts. They definitely need a use permit."

For elections results, go to www.shapethefuture.org.

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