In the case of long-standing rivalries, people often whole-heartedly side with one camp or the other: the Yankees or the Red Sox; the Beatles or the Rolling Stones; Democrats or Republicans.
The Menlo Park political spectrum is also centered on a rivalry — a power struggle between those who support the current City Council majority and those who support a group of opponents.
These two camps — groups that don’t have official titles, but essentially mobilize and act like political parties — often strongly disagree on major issues, and are competing to fill three open seats on the five-person council.
On November 7, all members of the council majority — Nicholas Jellins, Mickie Winkler and Lee Duboc — are up for election. Ms. Winkler and Ms. Duboc are running to hold on to their seats, and have sided with new candidate John Boyle to form a three-person slate.
Members of the current majority consistently vote together on major issues and garner more support from business and real estate interests than the other side.
With council members Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen often opposing the majority’s actions, the Winkler-Duboc-Boyle slate will have to make a clean sweep of the election if the sometimes controversial agenda of the current majority is to be furthered after the new council is seated in December.
Since being elected, the majority has been the driving force behind some big and contentious decisions, including the privatization of the city’s publicly funded aquatics center; calls for developing the 160-acre Bayfront Park with a golf course and playing fields; and efforts to privatize the Burgess child care programs.
Council members Fergusson and Cohen, elected in 2004, have opposed the council majority on these big issues. Both council members receive more support from environmentalists and residents who oppose traffic-producing developments.
‘Separate camps’
Mayor Jellins announced in June that he would not seek another term.A venture capitalist, candidate Boyle is a newcomer to local politics. He was recently appointed to the Transportation Commission by the current council majority and has been involved with two city sponsored committees.
Mr. Boyle has joined forces with the incumbents because he shares their political views, but said he is “sure he won’t vote hand and hand with [Ms. Duboc and Ms. Winkler].”
The three candidates share a Web site, and plan to share campaign literature, Ms. Duboc said. The three also support one another on their ballot statements.
“There really are only two separate camps in this city — people vote that way,” she said. “The voters aren’t fooled, so why be coy about it?”
The three candidates who oppose the current majority — Linfield Oaks resident Vincent Bressler, and parks and recreation commissioners Richard Cline and Heyward Robinson — say they are running independently, not as a slate of candidates. They note that they have different views on major issues.
“Hopefully this can be a loose coalition,” said Mr. Robinson. “The only thing that really unites us is the opposition to the current majority.”
When asked if she thought the opposing side was made up of three independent candidates, Ms. Duboc said, “In reality, no.”
But Mr. Cline, a previous supporter of Ms. Winkler and Ms. Duboc, maintains that he is running independently.
“We have to break away from this slate mentality and these two sides,” he said. “This style of politics isn’t getting us anywhere.”
Mr. Cline and Mr. Bressler showed up for Mr. Robinson’s September 3 campaign kick-off.
Mr. Cline acknowledged that attending Mr. Robinson’s kick-off party gives the current majority “plenty of ammo” to characterize the three candidates as a slate, but added that he has invited all of the other five candidates to his kick-off event.
‘Ultimately impossible’
But what happens when a candidate runs completely independent of the city’s political camps, without asking for political and financial support from either side?In the case of Eric Kinney, who ran for council in 2002, the results didn’t bode well.
Mr. Kinney, son of then-Councilman Chuck Kinney, received 6.4 percent of the vote — fewer than any of the six other candidates.
“It’s ultimately impossible to run a successful campaign as a truly independent council candidate,” said Mr. Kinney. “You don’t have the manpower to walk the streets. You don’t have the financial backing.”
When he declared his candidacy, he said, he was approached by each side to step out of the race so he wouldn’t take critical votes in an election where a few votes could mean everything. In 2002, as in this year, the pro-business camp had to win all three seats to take control of the council.
“What Eric Kinney did — that’s not something I was willing to do,” said Mr. Bressler. “I wasn’t recruited to run for council, but I wasn’t going to go forward if I didn’t have support from certain groups.”
Mr. Kinney noted that although the council majority’s opponents say they are running independently, key political figures — including his father and former mayor Gail Slocum — have been active in the candidates’ behalf.
Mr. Kinney said the city should explore having a seven-member council to get a “wider range of voices” on the ballot.
Ms. Fergusson said she plans to ask city staff to put the issue on a council agenda after the election.
Political divide
Terry Christensen, a politics professor at San Jose State University and a specialist on local and state politics, said the clear political polarized split in Menlo Park politics is “atypical and unusual” for communities on the Peninsula.“All along the Peninsula, councils often vote unanimously, voter turnout is low … and elections aren’t hotly contested,” he said. “You don’t have well-established factions.”
He added that the divide can be a good thing, as residents are presented two sides to important issues, but if consensus is rarely reached, the divide between party lines can lead to “gridlock.”
But in some cases, both sides have been unwilling to give, boosting the “majority rules” rationale.
The council’s debates have ranged from whether to privatize city services to which council member should serve as mayor, igniting public debate beyond council meetings.
Residents have submitted letters to the council e-mail log and local newspapers questioning the decision-making process of a consistently split council.
Ms. Duboc said the council reaches consensus on some issues, and votes aren’t always 3-2. She added that the characterization of the council as divided “makes for good drama” but that it isn’t always the case.
The council has approved proposals for a hotel off Sand Hill Road, new homes in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood, high-density residences along El Camino Real and a 3.5 percent utility tax for the November ballot with one or none of the council members opposed.
Both Ms. Duboc and Mr. Boyle noted that some residents blame the decision-making process when they don’t agree with the outcome of the council’s discussion.
Major issues
All three candidates challenging the current council majority point to process as a reason to oust the incumbents.“The council has ignored its commissions and ignored public input,” Mr. Bressler said. “This council majority is not resident-friendly.”
“To make a change, you’ve got to have a compelling reason,” said Mr. Robinson. “I think with the way this majority has handled things like the pool and child care … there’s plenty of compelling reasons for change.”
The calls for a council that will listen to the public echo arguments made by the current majority in 2002, when they labeled members of the other political camp “blockheads.”
Mr. Bressler has been critical of the council’s willingness to amend the general plan and rezone various sites to build additional housing in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood and along El Camino Real. Ms. Fergusson joined the current majority in approving the rezoning of both sites.
The city should instead conduct a comprehensive review of the general plan and make sure that specific projects are consistent with the overall plan for the city, he said. That plan, he added, should include potential impacts on traffic and schools.
Ms. Winkler, in an e-mail, said mixed-use developments “bring vitality” to the city’s downtown area, and are supported by various local and regional agencies.
Representatives from the Service Employees International Union Local 715, the union that represents the city’s employees, have also been critical of the council’s process, questioning the push to privatize city services.
Ms. Winkler and Ms. Duboc, who sparked efforts to privatize the city’s aquatics center and to put the city-operated Burgess child care programs out to bid, said they will not seek endorsements from the union.
Both council members said the city should consider privatizing its child care programs because high employee costs make the programs too costly to the city.
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