Kinney looks back on city service Kinney looks back on city service (July 07, 2004)

Editor's Note: City Council member Chuck Kinney was first elected in 1996, and re-elected in 2000. He has decided not to seek a third term and provided the following statement to the Almanac.

By Chuck Kinney

The decision to not seek re-election has been difficult for me as I have gained experience in the City Council process. There are weighty decisions ahead and some projects that remain uncompleted. While sometimes difficult, controversial and challenging, this position has afforded me the opportunity to help our community. Public service has broadened me as a human being.

My ideas and directions currently seem to have little impact on or compatibility with those of the present council. Another two years with the current council would be truly frustrating. So now I believe it is the right time both for me to concentrate on family matters and for the city to seek new leaders who have vision and can mature with experience.

New leadership is sorely needed to face the issues ahead; leadership that will not be satisfied with the status quo, that will bring vision and creative ideas to problem-solving.

I advise those seeking election to the council that while time goes by very fast, in our democratic process, decision-making sometimes appears to move at the speed of glacial ice melting. And at times difficult decisions are often avoided because they are difficult. It helps to do your homework; you are elected to make decisions. Your vision and those unique opportunities that present themselves must be acted upon with all due diligence or be lost.

Differences of opinion are a necessary part of our democratic process. Without full discussion as a benchmark for testing, improvement, modification or abandonment, we all lose. Ideologies formed in a vacuum or to satisfy narrow interests do little for progress and can lead to divisiveness. Change can at times be threatening but it is constant. It comes down to how the change is handled and how we can maintain those aspects of our community that are so important. You may believe you owe certain allegiances to those supporters who helped put you in office, but when elected, you represent the entire city.

As the city begins to recover from our most recent recession, our financial status remains strong. It has improved dramatically from 1996, when our unrestricted reserve budget was $12 million. Today that reserve is $28 million.

There are many challenges and opportunities that we will face in our community and as partners in the greater Bay Area. Among them are the Caltrain plans for grade crossings, Bay Front Park development, the future of El Camino Real as car dealerships leave, completion of the tree planting program for El Camino Real, the flood control programs for San Francisquito Creek, seismic upgrades to Hetch Hetchy, our main water supply, and a new residential zoning ordinance that will have wide support and includes design guidelines.

These are but a few of the issues that lay ahead; surely there are new ones yet unborn. I hope the new council will have the courage and vision to act decisively and comprehensively to include and benefit all the residents of Menlo Park. Thank you for enabling me to represent you and our City. I hope I have served you well.

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