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During a special meeting on Aug. 22, the Woodside Town Council did not vote to appoint the uncontested council candidates to office. The town will move forward with the election on Nov. 5 to fill three seats on the council for District 1, 4 and 5, with council members citing the need for voters to know the candidates and to elect them.
Candidates for Town Council include Mayor Jenn Wall for District 1, Council member Paul Goeld for District 4 and Woodside resident Hassan Aburish for District 5.
After deliberation, the council did not make a motion to appoint candidates and therefore, a vote was not taken. Continuing with the election will allow for write-in candidates. Woodside has had two write-in candidates elected onto the council. These include incumbent Chris Shaw of District 3 in 2015 and former Council member John Blake of District 2 in 1997.
The window for write-in candidates opens on Sept. 9 and closes on Oct. 22. Based on the cost of the 2022 midterm election, Town Manager Kevin Bryant estimates the November election will cost about $15,000.
As the only non-incumbent candidate, Aburish spoke during public comment to voice his support for an election despite having initial thoughts against the town spending $15,000 to hold one.
“I believe I would make a good Town Council member, but not everyone knows me,” said Aburish. “And so to the extent people get to know me and they decide that they don’t believe I would be, I think it’s important that they have the option to be able to find another candidate and to have a write-in.”
Council members Goeld and Dick Brown saw merit in Hassan’s willingness to continue with an election. Council member Ned Fluet also supported giving voters the choice to elect their council members and said that holding an election might encourage candidates to connect with the public during their campaigns.
Council member Brian Dombkowski felt more concerned about the town’s budget and shared his dissenting opinion toward an election. He emphasized the gamble in spending $15,000 for there not to be a write-in candidate, pointing to the statistics of the town holding over 100 elections and only having two write-in candidacies throughout its 68-year history.
After deliberation, the council decided not to motion on the resolutions to appoint the uncontested candidates, therefore continuing with an election. Wall was absent from the meeting.
The Atherton City Council voted earlier this week to cancel its uncontested council race.
For more information on Woodside’s election visit woodsideca.gov.
