Atherton: Jerry Carlson appointed to council Atherton: Jerry Carlson appointed to council (January 25, 2006)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Jerry Carlson, president of the Atherton Civic Interest League, is the newest member of the Atherton City Council.

Chosen to fill the remaining 11 months of the late Bill Conwell's term, Mr. Carlson was sworn in at a special council meeting Saturday, January 21.

Following Mr. Conwell's unexpected death on Christmas Day, the council had a January 24 deadline to either appoint a replacement or call for a special election to be held in June. The term ends in November.

Eleven people applied for the job by the January 18 deadline, although developer Joseph Comartin dropped out the following day. The other candidates included former six-term Councilman Malcolm Dudley, several well-known civic volunteers and a recently graduated political science major.

Mr. Carlson was chosen 3-1 over Phil Lively, a member of the town's General Plan Committee and Caltrain Corridor Subcommittee, following a runoff in which the four council members picked their top four choices. Mr. Lively and Mr. Carlson tied with four votes each in the runoff.

In the second, and final vote, Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen cast her vote for Mr. Lively, while Jerry Carlson won votes from council members Alan Carlson (no relation), Jim Janz and Mayor Charles Marsala.

Jerry Carlson, who is a former member of the town's Audit Committee and is currently the CFO of the Selby Education Foundation that supports Selby Lane School, told the council he'd pursue several strategies for improving the town's financial position and said he'd try to increase citizen participation.

When asked how he would juggle a council member's responsibilities with his other obligations, Mr. Carlson quipped, "This would be my exit strategy from the ACIL."

He said he planned to continue his work with the Selby Education Foundation.

The council interviewed Mr. Carlson and eight other applicants at the special meeting before making their decision. They were: John Davey, Bob Jenkins, Philip Lively, Jim Massey, Richard Moore, Carol Smith, Kristi Waldron and Benjamin Weiss.

Mr. Dudley had a prior obligation and wasn't able to attend.

Mr. Carlson said Atherton's fiscal integrity is "top-notch" but the town needs to address the cost of employee pensions and benefits as well as pursue alternative revenue sources that could replace the parcel tax.

The town's Finance Committee ought to meet more often -- on a monthly basis -- he said, and the town should pursue donations and bequests to help fund capital improvement projects.

On the subject of Atherton's lobbying to restore weekday Caltrain service, Mr. Carlson advocated taking a strong position. "Unless Atherton demonstrates it's serious about these issues, I don't think we're going to be listened to," he said.

The council encouraged the other applicants to run in November, when three of the five City Council seats will be up for election. In Atherton, seven of the last 10 council elections have been uncontested, and council members said they were delighted that so many people had applied for Mr. Conwell's council seat.

Jerry Carlson said he had no plans to run for election to the council in November, but when asked by Ms. McKeithen if that meant he would refuse to run again, he simply reiterated, "I have no plans to run in November."

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