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After 13 years on Portola Valley’s Town Council, Jeff Aalfs will not be seeking reelection in November. As his term comes to an end, his decision comes from his wish to spend more time with his family.
For over a decade, Aalfs has balanced his day job in energy and green building consulting while serving as a council member, father and husband. He and his wife Sally moved to Portola Valley in 2006 and raised two children in their home.
Aalfs served on the Architecture and Site Control Commission from 2008 to 2011, was elected onto the council in December 2011 and served as mayor for three terms. He also said his greatest accomplishment is the work he’s done while serving on Peninsula Clean Energy’s board of directors since 2015 — an opportunity that was offered to him as a council member.
He said that he would like to continue working with PCE, but when it comes to the Town Council, he’s ready to step away.
In a conversation with The Almanac, Aalfs discusses why he chose not to seek reelection, reflects on some of his memorable times on the council and responds to the contentious topics that Portola Valley currently faces.
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
The Almanac: Out of the many memories you have from serving on the council, what are some that stand out to you as your term is coming to an end?
Aalfs: The summer of 2011, I was meeting with Ted Driscoll, who was my colleague for two years on the council and he told me that Steve Tobin was stepping down. He was there to sort of ask me to take the time to file papers and run for Steve’s seat. Ted was very thoughtful and deliberate. I have a very vivid memory of the first day somebody approached me about being a council member. That’s one that stands out.
My proudest achievement has probably been (the work I’ve done for) Peninsula Clean Energy. I’ve rarely missed a PCE board meeting in nine years. It’s my biggest achievement both as an elected official and probably even in my day job.
COVID obviously just changed so many things in so many ways and it was difficult. I tell people that 2020 was the year I became a real politician. It felt like I was really doing my job.
Then in just the last few years, it’s gotten more contentious especially around the housing element. At the same time, I’m proud of the work we’ve done and the people I work closely with on it.
Q: Are there any challenges that the town is facing that you’re hoping will be resolved soon?
A: The biggest one right now is the finances. I have to take some responsibility for that. I mean, 13 years ago we were a sleepy little town. We were doing our books by hand and that was not going to be sustainable. We’re being asked to do much more administratively than we were 13 years ago.
But the crisis we’re facing is not a bookkeeping crisis or accounting crisis, it’s structural. It’s going to be a combination of things that have to happen. We are going to have to look at some expense cutting but we’re also going to have to look at other sources of revenue. There are some very hard decisions that will need to be made. … It’s going to be difficult and people aren’t going to like it.
The housing situation is not going to go away. I do think it will change. I think Sacramento is realizing that the one size does not fit all in terms of housing element solutions. There’s a realization that this cycle placed a lot of burden on smaller towns that needs to be looked at in future cycles.
Q: Residents have expressed some disappointment with the reorganization of the town. Is there anything you wanted to say about that?
A: We are kind of a mess right now and Town Manager Sharif Etman will be the first to tell you ‘yeah, the house is kind of a mess.’ We’re doing everything we can to get it back in order. It’s difficult.
We have always struggled to recruit people. People didn’t notice it because we had people stay for so long. I mean, we just lost two employees (Development Review Technicians Carol Borck and Cheyenne Brown) who have been around for 20 years and it’s hard to lose employees that long but it’s also really unusual to have people stay for that long. It covered up the fact that it’s hard to get newer people coming into the field.
Getting our house in order requires people. People have been difficult to come by for us and it’s going to take time. People have to recognize that I can’t fix this. My colleagues and the council can’t fix it. These are jobs for the staff to do. We need to let the staff work and we need to support them and then work.
Q: What thoughts went into your decision to not seek reelection?
A: It’s been long enough, honestly. I like to think I’m good at it but the truth is, we need new people to look at situations and I’m not about to pretend I’m different in that way.
I have two children. They’re 17 and 14. They don’t remember a time when I wasn’t working with the town. My wife has spent a lot of time covering for me when I’m away on meetings and things. She needs a break from that. The biggest reason is that it’s time for me to take a little more time for my family.
I’m past my prime. I’m a little burnt out. I’m not quite as focused on it anymore and I think I’m just ready to kind of hand it off and think about something else for a while.
Q: Do you have any plans to still be involved with the town, committees or other volunteer positions?
A: I think I’m going to not be involved for a little while, at least not formally. I’m going to step away and I don’t even know if I want to listen to meetings for a while. I would actually like to kind of purge myself and not be too close to it.
I’m thinking about what I can do with Peninsula Clean Energy — that I actually would like to keep in touch with.
Q: Is there anything that you wish you could have done while you were on the council?
A: There were lots of things. My passion is sustainability and energy efficiency. We talked about building a microgrid at the Town Center and making a potentially self-contained power system in case of emergencies. I would still like to do that. It would be expensive but there’s ways to do it.
We have been trying to modernize operations for several years. We did actually buy a new financial software in 2018 that has been kind of a train wreck. … I’ve really tried to give staff the resources they need to address it and I’m hoping it’ll get resolved but again, it’s not gonna happen overnight.
‘I remain optimistic about Portola Valley’s future. We are in a set of challenges but I think they are resolvable and I think when they are resolved, the town will be different. Everyone is nostalgic for their hometown when they moved there.’
jeff aalfs, portola valley council member
Q: Is there anything else you want to share?
A: I remain optimistic about Portola Valley’s future. We are in a set of challenges but I think they are resolvable and I think when they are resolved, the town will be different. Everyone is nostalgic for their hometown when they moved there. I moved there in the 2000s. I probably think it should be like that again but it’s never going to be and it changes.
I’ve become more excited and embracing change as I get older. I look forward to what the future of Portola Valley will look like because it’s not going to be what any of us imagined, but I think it’s going to be something really exciting.
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