May 26, 2004

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Publication Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Referendum leader will run for seat on Menlo Park City Council

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

With the announcement by Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson that she will run for the Menlo Park City Council this fall, the race is starting to take shape.

Emotions are running high over a plan to revamp home-building rules, and Ms. Fergusson is in the thick of the issue. After a divided council approved the rules earlier this year, she led a successful referendum petition drive against them.

The council is scheduled to vote on May 25 whether to rescind the rules or take the question to the voters.

During the petition drive, Ms. Fergusson said she would not run for the council because of time constraints. She owns a small technical consulting business and has two young children.

But Ms. Fergusson told the Almanac last week that she changed her mind after being "energized" by how many residents came out to support the petition. The petition was certified with about 2,500 signatures.

Concerned that the new home-building rules could pave the way for more outsized homes, Ms. Fergusson wants them to be repealed and a compromise ordinance created.

Supporters of the rules say they would make the approval process for new homes and major remodels more fair and easier to navigate by removing much of the human discretion from the process.

If Ms. Fergusson is elected, she said, she would also work to attract a variety of new businesses downtown.

During a recent split vote on the Planning Commission, Ms. Fergusson was one of the supporters of a plan to bring a hardware store and church meeting room to Santa Cruz Avenue.

"It would bring some youth and vitality downtown," she said. "It's important to make sure that the creativity and risk-taking of businesses (are) not stifled."

That decision was appealed to the City Council, who approved the plan despite concerns from some residents that the youth groups in the meeting room could create parking, traffic and loitering problems.

Ms. Fergusson is a resident of the Willows neighborhood and publishes a local newsletter called "Willows Voice."

Other candidates?

Meanwhile, other possible candidates say they're still weighing the pros and cons.

Two four-year seats are up in November. Councilman Paul Collacchi has said he won't run again, while Chuck Kinney said he's still undecided. Both were elected in 1996.

One of the more visible could-be candidates is John Carcione, who in March lost a close race to Redwood City Councilman Ira Ruskin for the Democratic nomination for the 21st state Assembly seat.

Mr. Carcione, an attorney, serves on the board of the West Bay Sanitary District and is the grandson of Joe Carcione, who was television's "Greengrocer."

Mr. Carcione told the Almanac that he might run for the Menlo Park council but is still "exploring a lot of opportunities." His sanitary district board term expires in November 2005.

Declining to give specifics about what city issues he's interested in, Mr. Carcione did say that he signed the referendum petition.

"I think all the parties should come together and reach a reasonable compromise," he said.

In the Assembly primary, Mr. Collacchi and Mr. Kinney endorsed Mr. Ruskin, while Menlo Park Mayor Lee Duboc and Councilwoman Mickie Winkler supported John Barton, another candidate in the race.

Ms. Duboc, Ms. Winkler, and Councilman Nicholas Jellins have voted in support of the home-building rules.

Planning Commissioner Lorie Sinnott, another supporter of the rules, also said she was considering a council run this fall.

"There are a certain number of people urging me to run, and that's very flattering," she said. "But it's a big time commitment."

Planning Commissioner Stu Soffer and former mayor Steve Schmidt also say they're contemplating running.

Reg Rice, who worked on the successful 2002 campaign of Ms. Duboc, Ms. Winkler and Mr. Jellins, said he would not run but that his political group, Menlo Park Matters, would support candidates with whom it agrees.

"I don't know who," he said. "It's too early for people to say, 'Yeah, I want to do it.'" Toni Stein and Bill Halleck, who ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2002, said they won't run again, and former candidate David Speer said he was reluctant to compete with Ms. Fergusson, whom he supports.

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