The Almanac 07.07.2010 - Section 1

Page 9

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Big local races as filing period opens By Renee Batti Almanac News Editor

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ocal voters, especially in Menlo Park and Atherton, will have some key governing body seats to fill and issues to face when they cast their ballots in November. The period for candidates to file papers to run for office is from Monday, July 12, to Friday, Aug. 6. If an incumbent in any race doesn’t file to run for re-election, the filing period for that race is extended one week. The Atherton and Menlo Park city councils will both have three open seats to be filled. In Menlo Park, the fouryear terms of Rich Cline, John Boyle and Heyward Robinson are expiring. In Atherton, the four-year terms of Charles Marsala, Jerry Carlson and Jim Dobbie are ending. Mr. Marsala has already announced he will not seek another term. Three seats will be vacant on both the Las Lomitas School District board and the Menlo Park City School District

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ELECT O N ( 10 ( (2 0 board. Four-year terms for Jeff Child, Deborah Fitz, and Laura Rich of the Menlo Park board end in December. On the Las Lomitas board, four-year terms for Leslie Airola-Murveit, Jay Siegel and Jamie Schein are expiring. There will be a run-off election for the District 3 seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors between Don Horsley and April Vargas, who were the two top vote-getters in the June primary. New candidates may file in the race for three open seats on the Sequoia Healthcare District board. The terms of Jack Hickey, Don Horsley and Art Faro end this year.

oper David Bohannon general plan revisions that would allow him to proceed with his plan to build three eight-story office buildings, a 230-room hotel, and a sports club, totaling nearly one million square feet of development in eastern Menlo Park. The majority of council members support the project. An initiative that would increase the retirement age for new, non-safety city employees from 55 to 60, and decrease their pension payments, is set to go on the ballot, although two employee unions are seeking a court ruling to keep it off. Later this month, the Board of Supervisors is expected to decide whether to ask voters to approve a five-year, quarter-cent sales tax hike in the county.

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Want to run? Ballot measures

Menlo Park residents will vote on two hot-button issues in November. The city is letting voters decide whether to grant devel-

Residents interested in running for public office can obtain information about the process by calling the county Elections Office at 312-5222. Or go to shapethefuture.org. A

Changing elections: Charter panel makes recommendations By Dave Boyce Almanac Staff Writer

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f California’s 57 counties, 44 look to state law to define the number of county officials and their duties. The other 14, including San Mateo County, have charters to define these matters for themselves. Recently, a group of 16 San Mateo County citizens, along with invited speakers and members of the public, met 13 times over several months to consider four questions and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. The questions were: ■Should the five county supervisors, each of whom represents a district, be elected by everyone in the county, as they are now, or only by residents of the district? A majority concluded to retain at-large elections, but to have the voters in the entire county weigh in on the question in the Nov. 2 election. ■What are the rules governing the replacement of an

elected official who resigns, and do those rules need an overhaul? The group made three recommendations, including when an appointed official’s time in office counts toward term limits. ■Should the treasurer-tax collector and the auditor-controller be appointed rather than elected, as is the case now? They should be appointed by the county manager, the group said. ■Should the Board of Supervisors review, on an eight-year interval, whether there is a continuing need for each of the 49 county boards and commissions? The group recommended such periodic reviews. Go to is.gd/dbxTI (case sensitive) to read the committee’s report. The Board of Supervisors is set to meet Tuesday, July 13, to debate the recommendations and vote on whether to take steps that would implement them. Woodside Mayor Dave Burow,

who participated in the committee on behalf of the San Mateo County Council of Cities, called it “a very good experience� and commended the divergent views expressed, including from the public. District 3 Supervisor Rich Gordon, who represents Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside, said in an interview that he supports the periodic review of committees and commissions, supports the idea of the county manager appointing the treasurer and the controller, and supports the revisions concerning the replacement of elected officials who resign. As to whether the supervisor elections should be at-large of by-district, Mr. Gordon said he has not made up his mind but supports the committee’s recommendation that it be put to a vote of the people. “It’s time for the county to have a discussion on a much broader scale than just the Board of Supervisors,� he said. A

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N B I RTH S

Portola Valley

Menlo Park

â– Kimberley and John Cashin, a son, June 9, Sequoia Hospital.

â– Katie and Locke Anderson, a son, June 10, Sequoia Hospital.

â– Carolina and Jeremy Pett, a son, June 10, Sequoia Hospital. â– Katherine and Kirt Peterson, a daughter, June 25, Sequoia Hospital

July 7, 2010 N The Almanac N 9

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