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Woodside Town Council will have two open seats for the Nov. 3 election, with incumbents Brian Dombkowski and Dick Brown announcing that they will not seek reelection. Their seats, representing Districts 2 and 3, are up for election in the fall.
District 2, currently represented by Dombkowski, encompasses neighborhoods near Kings Mountain Road and a small portion of Emerald Lake Hills. District 3, represented by Brown, includes areas south of Woodside Road, along Whiskey Hill and Mountain Home roads. Woodside’s district map can be found here.
Dombkowski, currently serving as mayor, was first elected to the council in 2018 and won reelection in 2022. His council colleagues chose him to serve as Woodside’s mayor in 2021 and in 2025 and again in 2026 — breaking away from the town tradition of rotating the largely honorary role among council members each year.
During Dombkowski’s current term as mayor, he helped the town navigate the process of updating the Town Center Area Plan, a document that will outline a clear vision for the town’s commercial and community hub.
In February, Dombkowski was named in a 14-page whistleblower report by former Town Manager Jason Ledbetter alleging that he made sexist comments and attempted to delay housing projects in his district. All allegations made against Dombkowski were dismissed in an independent investigation. Council members Jenn Wall and Paul Goeld and Town Attorney Jean Savaree were also named in the report.
Ledbetter has since been fired after a town investigation found only one of his allegations, involving Goeld’s disclosure of information from a closed session meeting, was substantiated. The town also accused Ledbetter of extortion, but the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office determined he would not face criminal charges after seeking a severance package worth $400,000 in order to resign without releasing his report publicly.
“Over the last eight years, the council has accomplished so much through such an extraordinarily dynamic and transformational period,” Dombkowski said in an email. “It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience and an honor to serve.”
Dombkowski took over the District 2 seat after former Councilmember Deborah Gordon decided not to run for another term after serving on the council for 17 years.
Councilmember Dick Brown, who also was first elected in 2018, served as mayor in 2022. Prior to his eight years on the council, he served on the Woodside Architectural and Site Review Board.
Brown told The Almanac that he has decided to retire from the council. When running for reelection in 2022, Brown said he was motivated by concerns about the state mandate to allow more housing to be built in Woodside.
“I enjoy the frequent conversations with our town residents and the satisfaction I get when I can help them solve a problem,” Brown said in an email. “There is a lot of satisfaction knowing my council vote has been a part of setting town policy and influencing the future of the town of Woodside.”
As no incumbents will be seeking reelection, Woodside residents in District 2 or District 3 will have until 5 p.m. on Aug. 12 to file nomination papers to run for a four-year term on the Town Council. As of July 20, Planning Commissioner Lyle Weaver has pulled papers for the District 2 seat and Circulation Committee member Dan Druker has filed nomination papers for District 3.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated the allegations made against Mayor Brian Dombkowski in Jason Ledbetter’s report.
