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Two candidates have qualified to run for Woodside Town Council open seats in the November election: Planning Commissioner Lyle Weaver for District 2 and Circulation Committee member Dan Druker for District 3.
Incumbents Brian Dombkowski and Dick Brown both said they plan to exit from the Town Council when their terms end. Their replacements could have their hands full, as difficult decisions about the Town Center Area Plan update and the state-mandated housing element are on the horizon.
Lyle Weaver
Weaver and his family have lived in Woodside for 24 years, and he’s spent 10 years volunteering with the Alpine Little League, local scouting groups and has volunteered on Valley Presbyterian Church’s financial audit team.
Now that his kids are in high school and college, Weaver said he’s putting his volunteerism into civic affairs. Weaver has been on the Woodside Planning Commission for four years and served as its chair for a two-year term. He also represents District 2 on the Town Center Area Plan Citizen Advisory Committee.
Weaver said he hopes to contribute his decision-making skills to the Town Council as it prepares to update the Town Center Area Plan, which outlines policies and standards for the area, and to meet growing demands for more housing from the state. Weaver said his engineering background in medical devices gave him the experience to make decisions under physical and regulatory constraints.
“We do have some hard decisions that we’re going to have to face over the next few years, and I think I can contribute to that by being a person that has a lot of experience in collaborative decision-making,” he said.
Weaver said he foresees traffic circulation, deciding where to locate new housing and adapting to the growth of the Bay Area as being crucial challenges that will need to be addressed in the update of the Town Center Area Plan.
Woodside is having a hard time attracting young families due to its unaffordability, Weaver said. He’s noticed that enrollment at Woodside Elementary has been trending down as fewer families with young children move into town.
“Having alternative forms of housing that would have a lower price point would provide an opportunity both for younger couples with children and also for seniors that maybe don’t want to have the burden of having a larger property,” he said.
While on the Planning Commission, Weaver said he’s worked with municipal codes, variances and making recommendations for the housing element. He said he is proud of being able to work with a team that addresses matters before the commission in a “calm, collegial and straightforward manner.” “It is always better to be proactive rather than reactive,” he said.
For District 2, which includes neighborhoods near Kings Mountain Road and a small portion of Emerald Lake Hills, he aims to address various infrastructure improvement projects that have been long stalled including drainage and bridge repairs. Weaver said he also wants to prioritize improvements to the walking path along the south side of Woodside Road between Woodside Elementary and Kings Mountain Road.
“We have a bridge on Kings Mountain Road that was identified 15 years ago as being in need of long-term infrastructure improvements, and that hasn’t happened yet,” said Weaver. “I think it would be good to see Woodside have a long-term prioritized list of infrastructure improvements that the town would work on.”
Information on Weaver’s campaign is at weaver-for-woodside-town-council.org.
Dan Druker
Druker is a Bay Area native who has lived in Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto and Woodside. Currently, the father of five lives in the Woodside Heights neighborhood.
Druker is active in his local homeowners association and serves on the Circulation Committee and Town Center Area Plan Citizen Advisory Committee. It was through his role in the HOA that he began to step into public service, representing Woodside residents and engaging with state agencies such as Caltrans on local projects, he said.
Druker said he’s been active in the ongoing work to increase safety near the intersection of Highways 84 and 35, beautify Woodside Road and improve pedestrian and bike safety on Woodside Road near the Interstate 280 exit.
“My motivation is entirely about public service, giving back to the community and helping people,” Druker said. “I really love Woodside and I find public service to be really rewarding and valuable.”
Representing District 3 on the Town Center Area Plan Committee, Druker and other members are responsible for guiding the process to develop a 25-year vision for Town Center.
“People want Town Center to be a valuable and attractive local resource,” he said. “They want it to retain the rural and equestrian feel that it has today. They want more reasons to go there.”
He added that the area lacks public spaces, broader retail services, workout studios, quick-service restaurants and ice cream shops, all places that would foster stronger community building in the heart of the town.
As the town faces state requirements to build 328 new housing units by 2031, Druker said he feels positive about Woodside reaching its target. He believes that the town could build housing in collaboration with Woodside Elementary, Woodside Fire Protection District and Menlo Country Club.
“There’s a lot of opportunity to work with those employers and drive more housing to really make sure we continue to meet that housing element quotas,” Druker said. “I think we have lots of ways to get there that are going to be intelligent and stay in character with the town’s rural feel and our equine heritage.”
Druker does not yet have a campaign website.
