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Publication Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 Voter Guide 2004: Four compete for two seats on Menlo Park City Council
Voter Guide 2004: Four compete for two seats on Menlo Park City Council
(October 13, 2004) From home-building rules to rail crossings, big issues face the city
By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer
Judging by the numbers alone, this fall's Menlo Park City Council election is not the pull-out-all-the-stops scuffle of two years ago.
In 2002, three out of five council seats were up for grabs, meaning the seven candidates weren't just running for office -- they were running for a chance to be part of a powerful majority.
This November, only the other two seats are up.
While council control is not at stake this time around, Menlo Park voters have important choices to make, as the race has attracted four candidates.
This election is an opportunity for the majority to gain a seat or two -- and make it more difficult for the minority to retake control in two years. And it's a chance for the minority to retain its two seats, which means it could take command in 2006 by winning just one more.
Two hopefuls, architect Michael Lambert and Planning Commissioner Lorie Sinnott, often align themselves with the three-member council majority: Lee Duboc and Mickie Winkler, who were elected in 2002; and Nicholas Jellins, re-elected that year.
Candidates Andrew Cohen, a retired workers' compensation judge, and Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson agree more with the positions of the minority council members, Paul Collacchi and Chuck Kinney, who aren't running again.
On some issues, the breakdown is tidy. One is ordinance 926, a set of changes to the city's home-building rules that the majority approved early this year and then rescinded after a referendum campaign led by Ms. Fergusson. The new council will have a large task ahead if it decides to try again to make changes to the rules.
All candidates clearly state the ideological approaches they'd take.
Mr. Lambert and Ms. Sinnott supported 926, saying a rules-based system with less human discretion in the approval process for new homes and major remodels is needed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cohen and Ms. Fergusson opposed 926, saying human discretion is crucial to protect neighbors from the impacts of outsized homes.
Rail crossings
But candidates -- and council members -- aren't so neatly pigeonholed. On the matter of how to handle the combination of street traffic and more and faster trains at Menlo Park's four rail crossings, an issue that could dramatically change the face of the city, Mr. Lambert and Mr. Cohen agree.
Both say the train tracks should be put down in subterranean trenches that the roads would cross as bridges.
The two are highly critical of the two other options on which study has focused thus far. One would dip the streets 20 feet down, beneath the tracks. The other would be a "split-level" approach, raising the tracks and lowering the roads by about 10 feet each.
Both options, Mr. Lambert said, "would tear at the fabric of this town," separating Menlo Park's downtown from the Civic Center. He and Mr. Cohen, who lives near the tracks, also agree that raising the rails would boost train noise, creating more disturbances for residents.
Trenching does create problems, including drainage issues and steep costs, Mr. Lambert said, but he added that it could be less hurtful to the businesses along Alma Street than the other options, which in the end would be better for the city.
Ms. Sinnott said the trench idea could be a possibility, but that she also sees promise in a new road underpass alternative recently put forth by Redwood City architect Nick Watry. Using different construction methods, his way would dip the road down only 17 feet, creating shallower approach ramps and less impact on nearby businesses, he has said.
For her part, Ms. Fergusson said she's also intrigued by Mr. Watry's proposal, but added that she wants more information about all the options before supporting one.
Budget crunch
Much is still uncertain about what will happen at Menlo Park's rail crossings. For one, it's still not decided whether high-speed rail from Los Angeles to the Bay Area will happen at all, or whether it will come up the Peninsula or skirt it altogether by taking an East Bay route.
But sure as sunrise, this spring will bring city budget hearings again. Judging by the last few years of cuts in programs and staff, the season will herald thorny decisions for council members.
Ms. Fergusson, Ms. Sinnott and Mr. Lambert say the city must focus more on boosting revenue to better bridge the persistent gap between income and spending. Both Ms. Sinnott and Mr. Lambert favor pursuing an auto mall in the large lots of the Haven Avenue light industrial area, saying it could increase the city's sales tax revenue and free up space on El Camino for other kinds of retail business that don't need so much storage space.
Not yet convinced that an auto mall is the best use of the Haven Avenue area, Ms. Fergusson said she'd like to have a design charrette. That's when a group of people, typically including residents and professionals such as architects, gather together to come up with project ideas.
"We could have waterfront development close to Bayfront Park," she said.
Hearings for the 2004-05 budget earlier this year turned contentious over several personnel cuts and changes, including laying off popular employee Debbie Helming, who runs the city's shuttle bus services. That layoff is expected to take effect in December.
Working a three-quarter-time schedule, Ms. Helming earns around $80,000 including benefits, with grants covering all but about $20,000 annually. City Manager David Boesch has said that money, including the grants, could be used for transportation projects.
Ms. Sinnott questioned whether the layoff was worth it, saying, "I'm sorry to lose her for the amount of money we saved."
Whatever happens in budget hearings, Mr. Cohen said he's certain of one thing: "The last thing I want is to make personnel cuts if they can be avoided."
Public art
Jaws dropped August 31 when a divided council suddenly decided to look into rescinding the city's public art law. In the ensuing days, the entire Arts Commission resigned in protest.
Since then, the Planning Commission voted 5-1-1 on September 27 to recommend that the council repeal the law. Ms. Fergusson dissented and commission chair Melody Pagee abstained.
Soon the council will decide whether to repeal the law, which means new council members could be weighing in on how -- or whether -- to replace it.
Under the law, developers of commercial, industrial and municipal projects costing at least $250,000 must pay 1 percent of construction costs to install public art on their property.
Both Mr. Cohen and Ms. Fergusson were disturbed by the council's move on the law, which came after arts commissioners had worked for several years to create and refine the law.
"You don't have people participate in government and then treat them like political fodder and dismiss them if you don't agree with them," said Mr. Cohen, who added that he thinks the "percent for art" approach to funding is sensible.
Ms. Fergusson agreed that the approach is reasonable, but said the process could be made easier for businesses, perhaps by having city staff give business owners more "personal attention" so that they are clear on the requirements.
Ms. Sinnott called for more sweeping changes to the process, perhaps by raising the $250,000 threshold: "That isn't very much in construction. It feels punitive."
That's not enough for Mr. Lambert, who would like the whole funding mechanism changed so that all residents pay for public art, not just people with construction projects. This could happen, for example, through an added fee tacked onto garbage bills, he said.
"This asks a small group of people to pay for something that benefits the whole city," he said of the current law.
Parking garages
With the city once more abuzz over the possibility of building one or more parking structures downtown, all candidates are giving thought to the matter.
Ms. Sinnott and Mr. Lambert both say they favor the idea, with Ms. Sinnott adding: "I'd love to get the diagonal parking off Santa Cruz (Avenue). It just fills up the whole street with metal. I'd like wider sidewalks."
With visions of garages tall and small, above ground and subterranean, floating around, Mr. Lambert said he'd like to have a design charrette to get proposals for a broad design of the downtown as a whole.
Ms. Fergusson expressed some trepidation: "I don't hear downtown business owners clamoring for a parking garage. I'd like to hear more evidence of merchant interest before moving forward."
And Mr. Cohen said he'd prefer a shorter garage to a taller one, adding that any garage would have to be well-lit and feel safe for people parking alone at night.
CANDIDATE BIOS:
Andrew Cohen
Experience: Presiding judge, California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, 1989-1994; worked on Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign; current Meals on Wheels volunteer
Profession: Retired workers' compensation judge
Education: Law degree, Stanford University; bachelor's in economics, Dartmouth College
Age: 64
Kelly Fergusson
Experience: City planning commissioner, 2002-present; member, San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee, since March; board member, O'Connor Tract Co-operative Water Co. in Willows neighborhood, 1998-present
Profession: Owns a civil engineering consulting firm
Education: Ph.D. and master's in civil engineering, bachelor's in applied earth sciences, Stanford University
Age: 42
Michael Lambert
Experience: Two years on city's Planning Commission in 1980s, served on a task force on revitalizing Willow Road, recently worked to keep Menlo Park from approving new fire-sprinkler requirements
Profession: Architect, construction management
Education: Finishing master's in business administration, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont; bachelor's in architecture, University of Washington
Age: 59
Lorie Sinnott
Experience: City planning commissioner, 1990-1998 and 2003-present; longtime volunteer at local schools; worked to successfully bring Samtrans school bus service to Oak Knoll and Hillview schools in the 1990s
Profession: Chief financial officer, Samuel Sinnott and Co. Architecture and Construction Inc.
Education: Licensed family counselor, master's in clinical psychology, JFK University; bachelor's in psychology, University of California at Berkeley
Age: 50
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