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Atherton’s City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to officially cancel the town’s Nov. 5 City Council election by appointing incumbents Diana Hawkins-Manuelian and Elizabeth Lewis to the two open council seats. Hawkins-Manuelian and Lewis were the only two candidates to file for the seats.
The council members voted unanimously to appoint Hawkins-Manuelian and Lewis to start new, four-year terms beginning in December of this year, and to pass a resolution canceling the election.
“I am really honored that you all are supporting me, and I promise that I will do my best to uphold the standards of the City Council that we’ve been setting for ourselves for the next four years,” said Lewis during the meeting.
Hawkins-Manuelian said that she feels similarly.
City Manager George Rodericks said in an email to this news organization that canceling the election will save the town $12,000, which was originally budgeted to manage the election.
Atherton has previously canceled council elections in 2016 and 2018 due to uncontested races.
New planning commissioner appointed
At the special meeting, the council also voted to appoint a new planning commissioner, Sandy Levison, for a four-year term ending June 30, 2028. Levison is replacing incumbent Nancy Learner, who reached her term limit on the commission.
The City Council had previously appointed a different applicant to the open planning commission seat during its June 19 meeting. However, that appointment was voided due to address verification challenges, according to a town staff report.
The office of the city clerk launched a new recruitment for the open commission seat, and only one new applicant threw her hat in the ring for the position.
“We cast a pretty wide net, but as usual, I believe that our one candidate (Levison) came through based on a referral,” said City Clerk Anthony Suber.
Prior to her application for the Planning Commission seat, Levison has volunteered for several foundations and nonprofits around town. According to her application, she was the co-chair of the Atherton Now foundation from 2015-2019, which helped raise funds for the new Town Center. She also worked with the Atherton Police Foundation for several years and is on the Oakwood Retirement Center Board at Sacred Heart Schools, among other affiliations.
“I believe the Planning Commission has a responsibility to incorporate both the short- and long-term needs of the residents through a balanced approach to adhering to state regulations while maintaining the unique character of Atherton,” she said in her application.
Levison’s first Atherton Planning Commission meeting will be the Aug. 28 meeting, where commissioners will review the town’s updated housing element. It will likely make recommendations to the City Council on whether to adopt it.
“I hope that you’re ready for the upcoming meeting, because it’s an important meeting,” said Councilmember Bill Widmer.
Levison, who attended the meeting, said that she is excited to serve on the commission.
“I know we have some challenging times ahead, but I love living here,” she said. “I know I need to learn from my fellow commission members … but I look forward to investing myself into learning more and hopefully benefitting the town.”
Other council members expressed their gratitude that Levison applied for the position during such a demanding time for the town’s Planning Commission.
“I’m so glad to have a fresh voice on the Planning Commission,” said Councilmember Stacy Miles Holland. “There’s a lot of people who have a lot of feelings about what the Planning Commission does, but not many people are willing to sit behind the dais and do the actual work.”
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Interestingly there are term limits for committee members, but not for council members. Note: given the amount of thankless work involved, I do not know why anyone would do the council member job based on rational considerations. Maybe this is why there should be term limits.