EDITORIAL: Lack of candidates in Atherton, Menlo Park EDITORIAL: Lack of candidates in Atherton, Menlo Park (August 18, 2004)

There may be a hotly contested race between President Bush and John Kerry at the top of the November ballot, but at the local level, residents of Atherton and two Menlo Park school districts won't even have a choice when they go to the polls.

That's because not enough candidates showed up to make a contest for seats on the Atherton City Council and the Menlo Park City and Las Lomitas school districts. That means that either Atherton residents are completely satisfied with the jobs being done by incumbents Kathy McKeithen and Jim Janz, or they don't care, which is unlikely, given the experience four years ago when the town was in turmoil over financial and management issues.

The turmoil was what persuaded Ms. McKeithen to become involved in helping to bring to light some of the indiscretions of the town at the time. But since City Manager James Robinson took over, the controversy has subsided at Town Hall, although the five-member council was divided 3-2 over extending the $750 parcel tax for most property owners in November. That question will be on the ballot, which is plenty of incentive for Atherton residents to go to the polls.

In the Menlo Park City School District, where voters approved parcel taxes in 2000 and last year, after passing a $22 million bond issue and an increased parcel tax in 1995, it was not surprising to see that no candidates surfaced to run against incumbents Teresa "Terry" Thygesen and board president Bruce Ives. Mr. Ives supported last year's parcel tax drive and Ms. Thygesen chaired the parcel tax effort in 2000.

In the West Menlo Park/Atherton Las Lomitas School District, incumbents Lee Anderson and Steve Sowiski are unopposed for a third and second term, respectively, on the board. (Both were unopposed in the 2000 election, as well.) Las Lomitas also has conducted successful bond and parcel tax campaigns in recent years, and like the Menlo Park City district, is not facing management or financial threats.

The lack of candidates is nothing new for Atherton, or the school districts, where residents often were reluctant to oppose longtime incumbents. And, as noted in this space a few weeks ago, local public servants receive little in return for listening to irate phone calls from constituents and sitting through long hours of meetings on a regular basis.

Still, we expected a few optimistic, engaged and dedicated people to show up this year, with a commitment to creating a better community. But in the Atherton and two local school district races, no one was interested.

Four vie for two Menlo Park council seats

With incumbents Chuck Kinney and Paul Collacchi retiring, Menlo Park voters will choose between four candidates for the two seats on November 2.

Planning commissioners Kelly Fergusson and Lorie Sinnott, architect Michael Lambert and former judge Andrew Cohen will run for the two seats. Mr. Cohen, a relative unknown in local government circles, filed just before the deadline last week.

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