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Atherton has a busy 2025 on the horizon, and new Mayor Elizabeth Lewis says she is looking forward to it. On Dec. 18, Lewis was chosen by her fellow council members to serve as mayor of Atherton for the fourth time. Stacy Miles Holland will be vice mayor for 2025.
In an interview with The Almanac, Lewis, who has lived in Atherton for nearly 30 years, said that her goals for the upcoming year include seeing the housing element update process to the finish line, continuing to improve the town’s infrastructure and flood protection, collaborating with neighboring cities and making sure that all Atherton residents feel as though their voices are heard.
“I am so excited and honored to have been chosen by my peers to serve as mayor this year, and to be on council for four more years,” said Lewis. “I feel that we have … a very good five-member council, and we all work really collegially together.”
Lewis said that one of the main challenges the town and council will face in the upcoming year is finishing the housing element process. That entails getting the town’s housing plans approved by the state, and then implementing all of the associated zoning and code changes laid out in the plans. Atherton has been working to get its housing plans approved by the state since 2021.
The council approved the town’s most recent draft on Oct. 16, 2024, and sent the plans to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. As the new year dawned, the town was still waiting to hear back from HCD on whether the plans need to be sent back to the drawing board.
“We were hoping we would have gotten it (the response from HCD) by the end of the year, … but we’re very hopeful that all goes smoothly through that process,” she said.
In addition to the housing element, Lewis said she is excited about the prospect of making progress on what she says are necessary traffic improvements for the town due to “an increase in the amount of traffic and cars on the road.”
“Atherton has not grown in numbers of residents, … but with the growth around us from Redwood City, Menlo Park and the cut-through traffic from 101 … El Camino has become very congested,” said Lewis.
Atherton has been eyeing the addition of bike lanes and sidewalks to the town’s 1.4-mile stretch of El Camino Real to make transit safer for pedestrians and cyclists alike. Lewis said she is looking forward to collaborating with both Redwood City and Menlo Park to make the driving, walking and biking experience on El Camino “smoother for everyone.”
Atherton is also planning the installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Alameda de Las Pulgas and Atherton Avenue, one of the town’s busiest intersections.
Lewis is also looking forward to updating the town’s master drainage plan to help alleviate some of the flooding issues along El Camino and throughout the town.
Lewis was first elected to the Atherton City Council in 2008; she is now serving her fourth council term. She previously served as Atherton’s mayor in 2012, 2016 and 2021. Lewis said that the town has changed a lot since she was first elected, but that it remains a “very special place.”
“The community, the people in the community … and (the town staff) are all just so great,” she said. “That’s what I think makes Atherton really special.”
In her previous three terms as mayor, Lewis said that she learned that prioritizing public comment and public interaction is one of the most important duties of a mayor.
“I promise that every voice will be heard with respect and dignity,” she said.
Lewis said she thinks the town has done “an incredible job” with community outreach and communication, but that she wants to continue to prioritize community education.
“We will continue to do community education, community outreach, giving residents an opportunity to let us know what is going on in their neighborhood — good, bad, ugly, whatever — so that we can delve into it,” she said. “We all don’t live in each neighborhood, so we don’t always know.”
Congratulations to Elizabeth Lewis on her fourth term serving as Atherton’s Mayor.
Very few people are willing to spend the time or make the effort to serve their communities in any capacity. So I would like to salute and thank Mayor Lewis for doing this on behalf of her neighbors. Even if they don’t always say it or show it, we appreciate her efforts.
Best wishes for your fourth time holding the gavel!