Spirit of referendum lost by council Spirit of referendum lost by council (March 10, 2004)

Now that nearly 15 percent of Menlo Park's registered voters have signed a referendum petition, forcing the City Council to either scuttle or schedule a vote on the city's controversial new home-building rules, the controlling council majority has a golden opportunity to enact a plan that would meet the needs of all the city's interest groups.

And although there was no indication last week that the majority, led by Mickie Winkler on this issue, has a serious interest in anything more than defending its much-weakened position, it is time for them to give signers of the referendum petition a full and complete hearing on their concerns about the proposed ordinance.

The referendum requires that the council either rescind the ordinance or place it on the ballot in a special election or at the next regular election, in this case November. But a costly election is not the answer. Instead, the council should rescind the rules and make a good-faith effort to rewrite the ordinance. An election could turn into a divisive debate that would do little to defuse the polarized positions held by both sides.

Ms. Winkler's comments at last week's meeting indicate that she wants to make a more informed decision on the matter. But she also said she wants to make sure the opposition "is based on fact" and not "misinformation," a defensive position that will do nothing to bring an ordinance to the table that both sides can support.

The referendum petitioners who oppose the ordinance, led by Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson, should be given a full hearing before the City Council, and each council member should have the opportunity to speak on the matter. Council member Paul Collacchi said last week that he abstained on the 4-0 vote to put off the decision on whether to rescind the ordinance or put it on the ballot because he had never been given an opportunity to speak his mind, only to vote on a particular motion involving the ordinance.

Clearly, the fate of this zoning plan is in the hands of Ms. Winkler and the majority. As author of what she considers a near-perfect ordinance, it will be difficult for her to look at other approaches. But the only fair way out of this standoff is for Ms. Winkler to sincerely listen to all points of view, and then help craft a compromise plan.

If the final product is a zoning ordinance that is acceptable to all sides, the effort will be more than worth the trouble. State law requires that new changes to the ordinance, if enacted within one year, be substantially different than the original target of the referendum. A new plan should not be slanted toward any interest group, other than Menlo Park homeowners. These are the constituents who mean the most in this epic battle.

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