Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The candidate filing period for the Nov. 6 general election in San Mateo County opens next Monday, July 16, and closes at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10.

Local elective offices in the November races include seats on city and town councils and on governing boards of school districts and special districts.

The candidate filing period for a race is extended by five days to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15 if an incumbent does not file for re-election.

Candidates for school districts and special districts file at the Registration & Elections Division at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo; candidates for council elections file with the respective city or town.

City or town councils

Seats are open on the city or town councils of each of the following communities:

• Menlo Park: Three seats, currently occupied by Richard A. Cline, Kirsten Keith and Peter I. Ohtaki.

• Atherton: Three seats, currently occupied by Rick DeGolia, Michael Lempres and Bill Widmer.

• Portola Valley: Three seats, currently occupied by Maryann Derwin, Craig Hughes and John Richards.

• Woodside: One vacant seat (District 7) and three seats currently occupied by Deborah C. Gordon (District 2), Anne Kasten (District 6) and David Tanner (District 4).

All council terms are for four years except for the vacant seat for District 7 on the Woodside council; that term expires in 2020.

School districts

Seats are open for four-year terms on the governing boards of each of the following local school districts:

• Menlo Park City School District: Three seats, currently occupied by Stacey Jones, Joan Lambert and Terry Thygesen.

• Woodside School District: Three seats, currently occupied by Claire Pollioni, Marc Tarpenning and Jennifer Zweig.

• Las Lomitas Elementary School District: Three seats, currently occupied by John Earnhardt, Rich Ginn and Christy Heaton.

• Sequoia Union High School District: Two seats, currently occupied by Alan Sarver and Chris Thomsen

• San Mateo County Community College District: Two seats, currently occupied by Richard Holober and Thomas Mohr.

Special districts

Seats are open for four-year terms on the following special districts:

• Menlo Park Fire Protection District: Three seats, currently occupied by Chuck Bernstein, Peter Carpenter and Robert Jones.

• West Bay Sanitary District: Three seats, currently occupied by Edward P. Moritz, Roy Thiele-Sardina and George Otte.

• Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District: Four seats, currently occupied by Nonette Hanko, Larry Hassett, Yoriko Kishimoto and Pete Siemens.

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

By Dave Boyce

Join the Conversation

5 Comments

  1. East Palo Alto has City Council elections for two seats, and the Ravenswood School District has three seats open. Ravenswood School District includes Menlo Park, you might want to add that to your article!

  2. Cline and Ohtaki are both in District 4. Only one councilmember will be in that district after the election. District 1(Belle Haven) will elect a new councilmember in November.

  3. Menlo Park election:
    District’s 1, 2 and 4 will each elect 1 councilmember.
    See map: https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/18069/Approved-City-Council-Districts-map
    Sequoia Healthcare District election:
    Zone’s A, C, and E will each elect 1 director.
    Note: Zone A already has another director, Katie Kane, whose term expires in 2020. Minority Zone D has no director. The District decided to delay an election in Zone D until 2020. See: https://www.almanacnews.com/square/2018/02/09/shd-minority-zone-d-seat-election-delayed-until-2020
    See map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1CmJsex6ByxrRG7bbrBvocDcVxTnCnPu0&ll=37.442460224006%2C-122.26509805&z=11
    Note: This map has not been finalized. It erroneously includes precinct 2611. See: https://www.smcacre.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/fostercity.pdf Also, zone boundaries created by demographer Paul Mitchell using census tracts, has resulted in splitting of precincts on zone boundaries. This is currently being reconciled by the County Elections Department.

    The resolution adopting the change from at-large to by zone elections, passed by the Sequoia Healthcare District Board of Directors on September 20, 2017, had a non-disturbance clause, which clearly sought to avoid such splitting of precincts. See: http://www.sequoiahealthcaredistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/MX-3500N_20180702_124452.pdf The cost of implementing the precinct splits will be billed to the District. IMHO, those costs should be borne by Hanson and Bridgett, outside counsel which hired the demographer.

Leave a comment