Menlo Park Mayor Nicholas Jellins may not be seeking re-election this November, but one prospective candidate is ready to fill Mr. Jellins’ shoes on the City Council.
John Boyle, a 22-year Menlo Park resident and member of the Transportation Commission, has announced he intends to run for one of three open seats on the City Council. He took out his candidate papers on July 20.
All three seats are occupied by the current majority on the five-member council; candidates representing their views must win all three seats to stay in power.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Richard Cline, who announced his intent to run for a council seat months ago, is the only other person to have taken out papers as of midday July 24.
“When [Mr. Jellins] said he wasn’t running for council, it created this need for someone with the right background to come in,” Mr. Boyle said. “[Mr. Jellins] is thoughtful and runs a good meeting, and he does his best to try and bridge the two parties on the council — that’s what I want to do.”
Mr. Boyle is a member of the Budget Advisory Committee, a council-appointed group of 14 residents formed in May 2005 to help structure the community-wide budget survey and workshops.
He serves as the advisory committee’s representative on the Child Care RFP Committee, a task force formed to help the city narrow down candidates to operate the city’s child care programs.
Mr. Boyle was appointed to the Transportation Commission in April.
A stay-at-home father of three, Mr. Boyle said he’s “taking a break” from work in the venture capital industry to spend time with his family and get more involved in nonprofit work and serving the community.
He said his background in business and “fiscal responsibility” would help the council through tough decisions regarding the budget.
“The big issue … is figuring out how we continue to provide the services the city wants and needs without digging ourselves in a financial hole for a while,” he said.
Mr. Boyle said he wants to serve the “silent majority,” or people who often don’t have the time in their everyday lives to attend council meetings and be directly involved in city politics.
“I don’t have an agenda coming in,” he said. “I’m not biased … or predisposed to vote one way or the other.”
Mr. Boyle said when he watches council meetings, he tends to agree more with Mr. Jellins, Mickie Winkler and Lee Duboc — council members who garner more support from business and real estate interests than the other side, and who usually vote together on major issues.
Those three council members voted to appoint Mr. Boyle to the Transportation Commission.
Ms. Duboc and Ms. Winkler have not publicly announced whether they will seek re-election.
Mr. Boyle said he has yet to decide whether he will align himself with current council members or other candidates leading up to the election.
Mr. Boyle also serves on the board of directors for the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation.
Other candidates
The filing period for candidates opened July 17.Former mayor Steve Schmidt and Bayfront Park advocate Elizabeth Lasensky have also announced they intend to run for council.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Heyward Robinson said he is considering running, and Vincent Bressler, a Linfield Oaks resident who has been outspoken against recent housing projects planned for the neighborhood, is also considering jumping into the race.
Stu Soffer, a former planning commissioner and another Linfield Oaks resident opposed to the proposed housing projects, has also expressed interest in running.
