Election 2005: SallyAnn Reiss to run for Portola Valley council Election 2005: SallyAnn Reiss to run for Portola Valley council (August 03, 2005)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

With three open seats on the five-member Portola Valley Town Council and three announced candidates, it's not a contest yet, but with 10 days left until the filing deadline -- 15 days if incumbent Councilman George Comstock chooses not to run -- there is potential for a race.

The latest candidate is SallyAnn Reiss, who chairs the Portola Valley Parks & Recreation Committee and regularly attends Town Council meetings.

Ms. Reiss joins incumbent councilmen Richard Merk and Ted Driscoll, both of whom have said they will run again. If no one else runs, there will be no election and the candidates will be appointed for four-year terms.

Mr. Comstock has said he won't announce his decision until the August 12 filing deadline. If he doesn't run, the deadline is pushed back five days -- to 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 17.
Why they're running

In an interview, Ms. Reiss said she wants to preserve the town's rural character while standing up for the "good side of improvements" that may come.

She said she agrees with the council's unanimous decision to build a new Town Center complex, but not on the idea of spending $15 million to $20 million to do it. The current design has aspects, such as a grass roof for the activity rooms, that are "cool but not practical," she said, adding that she wants to see costs come down "quite a bit."

Mr. Merk, in his sixth year on the council and also a critic of the Town Center design, said he is running for re-election because he's worried about too much change, that the "basic principles that the town was founded upon are starting to slip away."

The longtime practice of using volunteers to handle town business is fading as the town's professional and technical staff take over, he said, adding: "I'm worried that Portola Valley is going to lose that unique quality (it) has had for 41 years."

Mr. Driscoll said he had not planned to run for a fourth term, but wants to see through the building of a new Town Center complex. "We have a serious problem to be fixed," he said, referring to current complex's location within a known earthquake danger zone.

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