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A singer. A communications professional. A church cantor. Charlotte Reed is no stranger to making her voice heard, now she wants to use her voice to bring Menlo Park together.
Reed, 31, is one of two candidates vying to replace Mayor Betsy Nash to represent District 4 on the Menlo Park City Council. District 4 includes downtown Menlo Park, Allied Arts and parts of central Menlo Park.
Much of the discussion around downtown Menlo Park has centered around a controversial plan to build affordable housing on three city-owned parking lots. In 2025, 135 businesses signed onto a statement asking the Menlo Park City Council to reconsider the parking lot plan.
As the council moved forward, some business owners and residents launched Save Downtown Menlo to get Measure P on the Nov. 3 ballot. Measure P would require voter approval before affordable housing or other major changes could be built on the downtown parking lots.
Reed supports the plan to build affordable housing on the parking lots and opposes Measure P. But regardless of the outcome, Reed said she wants to work to unify Menlo Park after the election.
“Over the past several years, shopping on Santa Cruz Avenue has become a political statement, and I feel really strongly that we need to get partisan politics out of our downtown,” Reed said. “As a city councilmember, it’s my job to be an objective bridge-builder that can pull resources from all people that have been doing work to support our downtown.”
In addressing concerns from business owners to the housing development plan, Reed said that the city has had a communications problem. She said she wants to use her communication background to help people understand the city’s plans.
“Our business community unfairly has been made to believe that building housing as a way to revitalize our downtown will harm them, and that’s not true,” Reed said.
Reed said she wants to focus on revitalizing downtown and addressing concerns of businesses by creating a specialized city commission.
Reed also said that if Measure P passes, the city would be in violation of state law and would risk expensive litigation. If the city’s housing plan is decertified by the state, Menlo Park may be subjected to the builder’s remedy provision of state law, which overrules many local zoning rules until the housing element is recertified. When the city did not have a certified housing element in early 2024, a developer submitted a skyscraper proposal for 80 Willow Road, the former headquarters of Sunset Magazine. The developer is now suing Menlo Park for allegedly illegally stalling the proposal.
Reed’s opponent Laura Melahn has pitched a way for the city to amend its housing element to remain in compliance without building on the parking lots. Reed said that Melahn’s ideas will not work.
“Any alternative housing plans or proposed amendments to our existing housing element are designed to block housing development downtown,” Reed said. “We must ensure that we retain local control, and these housing plans and proposed amendments are designed to take that away from us.”
In addition to building more affordable housing, Reed said she wants to work on pedestrian and bike improvements in District 4.
“This is an important part of my platform when it comes to District 4: Identifying solutions to make sure that our kids are safe going to and from school, and our residents are safe commuting to and from work, is a priority for me,” Reed said.
Reed grew up in Connecticut and moved to Menlo Park from New York about two years ago. She said she has been fond of Menlo Park since she met her husband Patrick, who grew up in the city, at American University.
Reed worked in communications for a tech company before leaving in August. She is a two-time Grammy-nominated ensemble singer and a cantor at St. Raymond Catholic Church.
Reed is endorsed by Councilmembers Jeff Schmidt and Jennifer Wise, county Supervisors Noelia Corzo and David Canepa, state Sen. Josh Becker, Assemblymember Marc Berman, the San Mateo County Democratic Party and the San Mateo County Central Labor Council.
Read more about Reed’s candidacy here, see her answers to The Almanac’s candidate survey here and visit Reed’s campaign site here.
Charlotte, do you have ideas about how our City could pay for the downtown housing?
Your opponent, Laura Melahn does. Any many who have reviewed it believe it is one of the best options anyone has tendered.
Why do you think it would not work?
I founded and ran a successful public relations agency for 15 years with offices in San Francisco, New York and Sydney Australia and I represented some of the most exciting developments in the Medtech industry before I transitioned to becoming the CEO of a life sciences company.
I can tell you that my executive 20 year public relations background would not have been sufficient to prepare me for a role in city council.
Our city Council is desperately lacking expertise in finance and city planning. They are already struggling to figure out how to finance an affordable housing plan. As much as I loved cutting my teeth in public relations, it does not prepare you for this mission.
Laura Melahn is the only candidate who brings required city planning expertise to the table for District 4. She is the Chair of the Menlo Park Finance & Audit Commission. She is a Princeton University graduate and was Managing Partner at venture capital firm Meadow Valley Capital, founder of Meadow Valley Partners and Co-founder of the Downtown Menlo Fund, a nonprofit focused on downtown revitalization. She has two kids in our Menlo Park public schools. She and her husband have lived here for six years.
Laura is the kind of council member we desperately need to help steer us through these challenging times. If that’s not enough, she’s the most approachable, down to earth person you’ll ever meet. We are lucky to have such an accomplished candidate as Laura Melahn!