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The Atherton City Council canceled its November election and appointed four candidates to the council, including two newcomers who will take office in January.
At a meeting on Aug. 18 that lasted just five minutes, the council voted to fill the four seats that were scheduled to go before voters Nov. 3 and appointed two current councilmembers and two newcomers rather than hold an uncontested election. The vote was 4-0 with Mayor Stacy Holland absent.
Incumbent Rick DeGolia was appointed to his fifth term on the council, which will begin in January 2027 and run through January 2031. Incumbent Bill Widmer filed for and was appointed to a special two-year term ending in January 2029, filling the remainder of the term left vacant by Councilmember Diana Hawkins-Manuelian, who resigned in September 2025. Widmer has served on the council since 2010.
Mayor Holland decided not to seek reelection after serving one term on the City Council.
The two open seats on the council were filled by nonprofit executive Christine David and Planning Commissioner Jerry Leugers, who were appointed to four-year terms ending in January 2031.
David previously served on the Parks and Recreation Committee but resigned in 2019 in protest of the City Council’s decision to remove a proposed off-leash dog park at Holbrook-Palmer Park from the town’s master plan. She ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2020. She currently chairs the board of the nonprofit Friends of the Atherton Library.
Leugers serves on the Atherton Planning Commission and chairs the Transportation, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee. In his filed candidate statement, Leugers said he was running to fight state housing mandates and maintain the town’s fiscal health.
When the number of candidates does not exceed the number of available seats, California law allows a municipality to appoint the candidates instead of holding an election. Had the council allowed the election to proceed, write-in candidates would have been able to file through Oct. 20.
By canceling the election, the town also avoided paying the San Mateo County Elections Office an estimated $15,000 to administer it.
