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With November elections still more than seven months away, there’s already been interest expressed by some non-incumbants that may result in contested Menlo Park council elections this year.
“I think the conversation about district elections has got people energized. (They) want to at least start getting organized early,” said Clay Curtin, Menlo Park’s interim city clerk.
This year, three council members’ terms are up: Rich Cline, Mayor Peter Ohtaki and Kirsten Keith. Mr. Ohtaki and Ms. Keith have confirmed they plan to run again, while Mr. Cline told The Almanac he does not intend to run again.
So far, three people have filed preliminary forms showing “intention” to run in November, Mr. Curtin told The Almanac on March 23: council incumbent Kirsten Keith, and newcomers George Yang and Sarah Staley Shenk. The Candidate Intention Statement or “501” form signifies that a candidate may intend to run, and permits fundraising and spending up to $2,000.
District openings
The matter of who will ultimately even be able to run, and how the dynamics of candidates’ campaigns operate, may change dramatically with the introduction of districts in this year’s elections.
Following recommendations from the city’s advisory districting committee, the City Council voted March 20 that three of the city’s five districts would be up for election: District 1, which covers Belle Haven and the city east of U.S. 101; District 2, which covers the Willows, Suburban Park and Flood Triangle; and District 4, which covers downtown Menlo Park, Allied Arts and a southern segment of El Camino Real. That leaves out District 3, which would have no representation until 2020, and District 5, which would have two representatives: council members Ray Mueller and Catherine Carlton, who were both re-elected in 2016.
Peter Ohtaki and Rich Cline both hail from District 4, while Kirsten Keith is in District 2.
Of the other potential candidates, Ms. Staley Shenk lives in District 2, and Mr. Yang lives in District 1. Jennifer Wolosin, a resident of District 3, has filed the candidate intention form but won’t be eligible to run until 2020.
Incumbents
Mr. Ohtaki said he’s looking forward to running again.
“I actually have very much enjoyed and continue to enjoy serving on City Council,” he said in an interview. “We don’t agree on everything, but we do get things done, and I think that’s important.”
When asked how he might campaign differently for a district versus an at-large election, he said he’d probably “focus on my particular district,” noting, “I hope the council representatives from the different districts will continue to work like this council.”
In a written statement, Ms. Keith said, “I look forward to working with all residents to continue to make Menlo Park a great place to live, work and play.” Her priorities, she said, are working on the Dumbarton Corridor plan to reduce traffic congestion, and supporting new affordable housing, bike infrastructure and environmental advancements.
Mr. Cline, who is currently in his third term, said he ended up running again in 2014 because he wanted to see the projects he’d been working on through. By now, he said, the gig comes with a sense of deja vu, and he feels he’s done “what you never want to do” become an institution. “It’s counterproductive to what a new group of active community members wants,” he said.
Serving on the council, he said, is a “good amateur job. It should be preserved that way.”
Council race
Sarah Staley Shenk, a resident of Suburban Park who characterizes herself as a working mom, said in an interview that she hasn’t yet decided if she will run for council, but filed the initial paperwork to be transparent and compliant with the campaign process. She’s currently conducting a “listening tour” to hear from District 2 residents and is planning to decide whether or not to run in the next month.
People interested in talking to her can contact her at sarah@staleysash.com.
“I love Menlo Park,” she said, noting she is “increasingly concerned … that what we value about Menlo Park is eroding nearly to the point of (an) unrecognizable landscape.”
When asked how she might feel about running against Councilwoman Keith, she said, “Kirsten has demonstrated an incredible resume of dedication to the city of Menlo Park. … It appears to me she comes to this with true heart for the city.”
George Yang, a member of Menlo Park’s Sister City Committee, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story listed the incorrect email address for Ms. Shenk. It has been corrected above.
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So excited to hear that Sarah is throwing her hat in the ring. She is amazing and would speak for so many families like mine. We really need new voices on City Council. She would be an fantastic representative for District 2.
Go Sarah!
I think Sarah is exactly the fresh voice that we need in Menlo Park!
It’s time to replace Keith. She clearly is more interested in enjoying the perks of being a City Councilmember in Washington DC and internationally than serving residents in her district.
What was so important in China this week, that Councilmember Kirsten Keith missed the Facebook study session? Is she using her City Council title on this trip?
What was so important to require her and Councilmember Carlton to miss important votes on staff raises at the prior City Council meeting?
Speaking of City Councilmember trips….
How was Councilmember Catherine Carlton serving Menlo Park residents when she spoke at events in the past year in India, Kyiv and South America, using her City Council title? Who paid for those trips? How did they help the residents of the City of Menlo Park?
How is Councilmember Carlton serving the residents of Menlo Park speaking in Bulgaria in June, at the Webit Festival, using her City Council title?
http://www.webit.bg/2018/speakers.php
On the Webit website, Councilmember Carlton is claiming she was Mayor (elect) in 2014 and 2015. That’s a stretch. She was appointed Mayor in December 2014 for 2015.
How many trips outside Menlo Park domestically and internationally have Councilmembers Keith and Carlton taken in the last calendar year using their City Council titles? How many times did they inform the public they were using their City Council titles outside of the City, prior to the trip? How many times did they promptly report on the trip after taking it?
Does the public know City Council status comes with a travel abroad membership program?
Same with Catherine Carlton….flittering and bragging about.
Is she still a council member?
It’s time for term limits. These limit the influence of special interests such as Facebook and staff members who influence Council. Council is not supposed to contact staff directly but it’s obvious that some Council members know staff quite well. Council’s coziness with staff explains why projects continue, such as the one for the new Main Library, despite inadequate public support for a bond measure. Carlton and Keith both list “consulting” as their day job and Carlton has already revealed that one of her clients is Facebook. Both should reveal their list of clients and how much time they spend with each, so the public can see potential conflicts of interest. On Carlton’s end, she has also arrived unprepared to Council meetings because she can be seen reading the staff reports during the meeting. This is not re-reading, but first-time reading as she’s so unfamiliar with the content. The other Council members are nice to her by making statements that help smooth over her ignorance of the topic and/or give her time to study the material before she has to speak! Two terms are enough for Council members. Limiting terms would also help to put the focus on benefiting the public because Council members would not have to worry about trying to get re-elected.
Based of a city survey, a narrative has emerged that the main Library project is terminally unpopular. The creator of that survey has reported that this survey was not crafted to be used to reach these types of conclusions.
@Watchdog is concerned that Carlton and Keith both list “consulting” as their day job. Although this may be true for Carlton, Keith’s LinkedIn page has no such reference. All elected officials must file financial disclosure documents, so concerned citizens can request clarifying documents from the City Clerk.
Why can’t there be an “at large” election that is restricted to the geography now in Districts 2, 3, and 4, with the top two vote-getters who are in different Districts winning the two seats? The winners then-unrepresented District is up for election in two years.
This would mean that the voting community decides which District isn’t represented, rather than the Council, two of whom are incumbents seeking re-election.
I hope it isn’t too late to do something sensible like this.
@IDEA asks, “Why can’t there be an ‘at large’ election that is restricted to West of 101?”
Shenkman has made it clear that “from district” or “at large” elections West of Hwy 101 (District 1) will not satisfy the CVRA or his demands. District 1 must have “in district” elections. Having any other type of election system in Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5 would require that the City of Menlo Park become a charter city to allow “hybrid” elections. Anyone hoping to return to a system where most residents can vote for two council members (representing most of the city) every two years, should demand that council put the simplified charter on the November ballot. As the Daily Post reported, “in district” elections take away 80% of a voter’s influence. With “from district” elections in Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5, voters will only lose 20% of their influence.
Kirsten Keith and her cronies need to stop worrying about the best system and charter to get her reelected just in case she can’t win in her district. If she can’t win in her district she probably shouldn’t be on City Council anyway. The council’s charter talk is just a hedge in case the lose power in a district process. Stop wasting our time and do your jobs.
We’re not concerned about a system that will benefit a specific candidate. We’d simply like to be able to vote for a council majority. We hope @Charter_really? sees that 2020 is the first District-2 election that could be from-district, and we have no idea if Keith has any desire to run for a 4th term. We hope @Charter_really? can find happiness under any legal election system.
Now we know what Kirsten Keith is doing in China.
According to the Chinese press, she posed as the current Mayor of Menlo Park, to sign a memorandum of understanding with a Chengdu High-tech zone, and the Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group, that her friend Mike Kasperzak, whom is the former Mayor of Mountain View, runs as CEO.
Did Councilmember Keith get approval from the City Council to sign the memorandum?
Why is Councilmember Keith posing a Mayor or Menlo Park?
Why is Councilmember Keith signing a MOU to benefit her friend’s company internationally in China?
Who paid for Councilmember Keith’s trip to China?
There is a picture of Councilmember Keith with former Mayor Kasperzak attached to the article.
http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2018-03-27/1202993.html
english translation of article below:
Chengdu and Silicon Valley will set up mutual financial centers to help the globalization of the two places
Daily Economic News 丨 Wu Linjing 2018-03-27 14:54:55
On March 27th, Chengdu High-tech Zone signed cooperation memorandum of understanding with Silicon Valley city group (Dublin City, Mountain View, Menlo Park City) and Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group, and the three parties plan to cooperate to build “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center” “.
Chengdu and Silicon Valley will set up a global development platform for high-tech industries and financial innovation.
On March 27th, the reporter of “Daily Economic News” learned from Chengdu High-tech Zone that it is necessary to integrate international innovation resources and promote deep cooperation with top international technology parks. Chengdu High-tech Zone and Silicon Valley City Cluster (Dublin City, Mountain View City, Menlo Park) City) and the Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation. The three parties intend to cooperate to build a “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center.”
“This cooperation is the latest achievement of the ‘Global Top Technology Park Partner Program (TSPPP)’”. The relevant person in charge of the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone stated that the “TSPPP” initiative was held in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, Sophia Antipolis, France. More than 20 science and technology parks, including Science and Technology Parks, have been jointly initiated and are dedicated to building a “science and technology park destiny community.” Next, Chengdu High-tech Zone and Silicon Valley City Group will use the “science and technology financial center” as a platform to conduct all-round cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, information technology, bio-pharmaceuticals, and technology finance (FinTech), integrating international innovation resources, and supporting local innovation. The company actively “goes out” so that the projects in different stages can get mutual support between China and the United States and achieve complementary advantages.
Co-construction of “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center”
On the morning of March 27th, Chengdu High-tech Zone signed cooperation memorandum of understanding with Silicon Valley city group (Dublin City, Mountain View, Menlo Park City) and Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group. The three parties plan to cooperate and build “Chengdu – Silicon Valley Technology Finance center”.
Specifically, the “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center” will be operated in a limited liability company model and will be launched in two directions in Chengdu High-tech Zone and Silicon Valley. Him Group Group, together with the Silicon Valley City Group, injected US$30 million to establish the “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center” in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, and set up a 1,000-square-meter technology finance center in Silicon Valley. The project is provided by the Him Group Group for operation management, project allocation and consulting services, and Chengdu Gaoxin District and Silicon Valley for unified management so that projects in different phases are mutually supportive and complementary to each other.
This reporter learned that the “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center” has three business segments, including the establishment of the “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Transfer Center” and “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Financial Service Center” and the establishment of “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Free Trade Zone” in the US Silicon Valley. Window”.
The Chengdu-Silicon Valley Financial Service Center plans to initiate the establishment of a special industrial fund to guide the flow of international capital to the cutting-edge technology and industry direction of Chengdu’s local development through financial innovation, cross-border financial cooperation, etc., to connect Chengdu’s Hi-tech Zone to the international industrial value chain and cross-border Scientific and technological cooperation builds a capital bridge. More than 40 emerging technology projects and companies including artificial intelligence, VR/AR, big data, blockchain, and enterprise-level applications have been reserved.
The “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Free Trade Window” will rely on the policy advantages of the Sichuan Free Trade Experimental Zone, focusing on building a one-stop service platform for bilateral goods trade, service trade, two-way investment, and park cooperation to help the globalization of SMEs in China and the United States. development of.
In order to promote the joint R&D achievements and intellectual property management, the “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center” will serve as an external technology management and exchange center for the Silicon Valley City Cluster. On the one hand, it will promote Chengdu’s R&D cooperation, and on the other hand provide Chengdu’s technological innovation projects. In support of activities such as the promotion and landing of the Silicon Valley in the United States, Chengdu enterprises are actively supported to “go global” and carry out various cooperation businesses in Silicon Valley.
Expanding the global cooperation of scientific and financial talents
The reporter learned from the scene that the mayor of Silicon Valley rushed to Chengdu Hi-tech Zone not only to promote the Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology and Finance Center project to be launched and officially operated during the year, but also hoped that the two places could further establish science and technology, finance, and high technology. The talent exchange mechanism has gradually created important issues such as the brands of the China-US Innovation Summit Forum with significant influence. At the meeting, the three parties exchanged in-depth exchanges of interest and wish for cooperation in the fields of high-tech projects, promotion in the financial sector, and cultural and educational exchanges.
Michael Kasperzak, Him Group CEO and former Mayor of Mount View, said that in the past few years, he has visited China eight times and learned that companies in China and the United States have artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and technology. The financial community has a great willingness to cooperate. He hopes to use the strength of the Him Group to help the two companies cross the Pacific barrier and achieve win-win cooperation. He believes that this can help Chengdu achieve “Chengdu, Can do” (Chengdu, Ducheng) )!
David Haubert, mayor of Dublin, who visited Chengdu three years ago, said that during his visit in Chengdu, he believed that Chengdu would be a rapidly developing city. He believes that this cooperation between Chengdu Hi-tech Zone and Silicon Valley will set up a new bridge of cooperation. “This time the two sides decided to set up a ‘science and technology financial center’ very wisely. I believe that Chengdu will win huge development opportunities in various cities in Silicon Valley. ”
Kirsten Keith, mayor of Menlo Park, said: “Chengdu is a very wonderful city and it is worthy of the attention of many startup companies in Silicon Valley. It is suitable for entrepreneurship and more suitable for life.”
The 2016 election has shown us that we can’t trust blog posts. Less than a year ago, a reputable local paper (the Daily Post) described Patti Fry as a former councilwoman. Patti Fry never even ran for city council, reporters make mistakes.
“Former councilwoman Patti Fry said while the numbers for how much housing was added to Menlo Park “sounded right,” she said the city should have been adding homes while adding to its job creation.” — Wed, May 3, 2017, Emily Mibach, Daily Post
The China and India relationships were initiated in 2014 and 2015 respectively:
• 2014: Landmark mayoral China mission http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2014-04/18/content_17443567.htm
• 2014: Silicon Valley Mayors Join with China Silicon Valley on Landmark Investment Mission to China http://chinasv.org/en/silicon-valley-mayors-join-china-silicon-valley-landmark-investment-mission-china/
• 2015: Twin City Programme between Kochi and Menlo Park: http://chinasv.org/en/silicon-valley-mayors-join-china-silicon-valley-landmark-investment-mission-china/
• 2015: Cusat, Menlo Park for educational tie-ups http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/cusat-menlo-park-for-educational-tieups/article6880797.ece
There bad link above should instead be this:
• 2015: Twin City Programme between Kochi and Menlo Park: http://www.c-hed.org/?p=2897
Establishing new conduits for theft of Silicon Valley Intellectual Property,
Well done, clueless council members.
Is this real? Is Keith really expending Menlo Park funds, directly or indirectly, on this or acting on behalf of the City in China? Has Menlo Park authorized any part or anything for this? What is going on? Does Menlo Park have an Ombudsman? Is anyone at the city responsible for investigating Keith’s purported Menlo Park city actions in China? What action is the press taking to find out?
“According to the Chinese press, she posed as the current Mayor of Menlo Park, to sign a memorandum of understanding with a Chengdu High-tech zone, and the Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group, that her friend Mike Kasperzak, whom is the former Mayor of Mountain View, runs as CEO.”
http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/business/12/20180327/108786.html
“A signing ceremony for the project was held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, on Tuesday. Management consulting company Himgroup Holding, Inc., Silicon Valley City Group (Mountain View, Menlo Park and Dublin) and Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone Administrative Committee signed the memorandum.”
http://sc.chinadaily.com.cn/2018-03/29/content_35939768.htm
Google translate: “On March 27th, Chengdu High-tech Zone signed cooperation memorandum of understanding with Silicon Valley city group (Dublin City, Mountain View, Menlo Park City) and Silicon Valley management consulting company Him Group, and the three parties plan to cooperate to build “Chengdu-Silicon Valley Technology Finance Center”
March 30 press release confirms Memorandum of Understanding (signed by Keith as Menlo Park Mayor?) Him Group (a corporation with Articles of Incorporation filed with California secretary of street February 28, 2018) and Silicon Valley City Group (nothing found in filings) to “co-finance US$30M for center in Chengdu and a 1,000 square meter ( 9,000 square foot?) technical finance center in Silicon Valley” .
http://www.a1126.org/DispOneMessage.asp?txtOrgCode=CCEF&Category=01&ID=CCEF43189368917519&Page=1
I can’t seem to find anything about this on Menlo Park or Mountain View city websites. Nice Picture in China of Keith under Silicon Valley City Group title in joint picture with CDHT Administrative committee and HimGroup Holding titles.
Who or what is a front for who or what, or put another way, who is Menlo Park acting for, if at all, and why? Is Keith acting for, or representing Menlo Park, and if so Why, and what city authorization exists for her to do so?
What is Him Group exactly? The most obvious answer is a bad translation. Do we believe Kasperzak is part of some entity called Him Group?
I’m not a Kirsten Keith cheerleader, but this weird speculation derived from bad translations is making me feel sympathetic to her! If that’s the best opponents can do, I actually like her shot in the fall.
Is says “HimGroup” on the screen in the picture.