Something unusual is happening in Menlo Park.
With the City Council election four weeks away, there’s no local controversy on the tip of everyone’s tongues. There’s no community-wide debate about building sports fields at Bayfront Park, no divisive changes proposed for the city’s home building rules, and no uproar about traffic calming measures on Santa Cruz Avenue.
In a town known for divisive, highly political council campaigns, there are just three candidates running for two council seats. Since the council has a four-member majority, the current majority will maintain control of the five-seat council regardless of the election results.
But although the campaign is low on controversies and candidates, the city’s political camps — groups that essentially mobilize and act like political parties — will still face off on Nov. 4.
Mayor Andy Cohen and Councilwoman Kelly Fergusson are seeking re-election. Although the two incumbents don’t vote in lockstep, they’ve endorsed one another’s re-election campaigns, and are widely considered part of the council’s four-person majority that also includes councilmen Richard Cline and Heyward Robinson — both of whom have endorsed their colleagues’ re-election bids. The four council members represent the camp that is more resistant to development projects, and the traffic and construction impacts associated with increased development.
Representing the other side of the political spectrum is Rick Ciardella, a two-time president of the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce, and a local landscape architect. Councilman John Boyle, who represents the political camp more receptive to development, has endorsed Mr. Ciardella.
All three candidates agree on several issues, including preserving Bayfront Park as open space, continuing to explore public/private partnership opportunities, and addressing growing employee costs. But when it comes to two issues that could have big impacts on the town — El Camino Real and high-speed rail — the candidates don’t see eye-to-eye.
El Camino Real
The main message from Mr. Ciardella’s campaign is a simple one: The council needs to move faster in efforts to revamp properties along El Camino Real and the city’s downtown area.
The city is starting phase two of what’s expected to be a years-long “visioning process” for revamping abandoned auto lots along El Camino Real. The effort has cost the city $226,000 in consultant fees and other costs thus far, and will likely cost hundreds of thousands more in consultant expenses and land-use studies.
Mr. Ciardella admits he’s “taken a backseat” on the project, and hasn’t attended any of the community workshops devoted to revamping El Camino Real properties, but he says the council has spent too much time and money on studies, and needs to start making decisions.
“They haven’t accomplished anything,” said Mr. Ciardella, who has helped design several city projects, including the Menlo Square condo-commercial project at the intersection of Oak Grove and Merrill Street. “Every time I turn around, there’s another consultant.”
But sitting council members — including Mr. Ciardella supporter John Boyle — have stressed that the high costs and long timeline of the project are justified in order to get the community to weigh in on the future of El Camino Real. Incumbents Cohen and Fergusson said the council has to take its time to get a vision for the corridor with widespread support.
Incumbents Cohen and Fergusson said the council will take action, but the process needs to move slowly to garner public input.
“There are six prior studies sitting on the shelf because they lacked the community’s support,” said Ms. Fergusson, referring to past city-led efforts to come up with a plan for overhauling the El Camino Real corridor. “Menlo Park has been plagued by these piecemeal development proposals that have divided our community. We need to get beyond that, and this is our only way.”
Mr. Cohen acknowledged that the city could “tighten up” the time and money spent on studies and consultants, but he stressed that there are some residents who want to see higher densities and more intense development along El Camino Real, and others that want little to no development.
“These dramatically opposing viewpoints must be brought to consensus — not compromise,” Mr. Cohen said.
Asked if community-wide compromise is possible, Mr. Cohen pointed to the smaller, less-dense version of the proposed Derry condo-commercial development. The 108-condo compromise project, not yet approved by the council, is a result of negotiations between the developer and a core group residents who opposed the original 135-condo project.
Mr. Ciardella has a different take on the Derry project.
He said the referendum against the original project, supported by the current council majority, was “misguided.” He questioned whether the compromise project will ever get built.
High-speed rail
The candidates also differ in their views of plans to shoot high-speed trains up and down the Caltrain corridor.
Ms. Fergusson, along with councilmen Cline and Robinson, have become staunch critics of Proposition 1A, the $9.95 billion bond measure that would provide the initial funding for an estimated $45 billion high-speed train line that would connect San Francisco to Los Angeles. Mr. Cohen has opposed high-speed rail, but hasn’t taken an official stance on the project as a council member, citing a potential conflict of interest: he lives near the Caltrain tracks.
Council members Fergusson, Cline and Robinson voted in favor of passing a resolution opposed to Proposition 1A, arguing the state hasn’t addressed potential noise, construction and property impacts of the train on Menlo Park homeowners and businesses.
“This was the only way to bring them to the table,” said Ms. Fergusson, referring to separate votes to oppose the bond measure and join a lawsuit against the state on the basis the route would negatively impact Menlo Park. “I’m not going to let [the California High Speed Rail Authority] bulldoze our residents. … The City Council is trying to manage the impacts of this project on our town.”
Candidate Ciardella said he’s “undecided” on Proposition 1A, but questioned council members’ decision to join a lawsuit against the proposed route.
He said he sympathizes with concerns about the lack of information regarding what impacts the train would have locally, but noted that he’s confident the rail authority will give Menlo Park and other cities a chance to give more input on the project.
“People are frustrated with this process, and not all the issues have been thought out,” Mr. Ciardella said. “We need to be in the driver’s seat on this, and I think this process will still be community driven.”
