RACES TO KEEP AN EYE ON
From the first district elections in Redwood City to a contested race for the county board of education
From Redwood City’s first council district race to an array of tax proposals pitched as critical for sustaining local government services, San Mateo County residents will have more on their plate Nov. 3 than just deciding who should lead the country.
Here’s a look at some of the notable county races and ballot measures that could shape the Peninsula’s immediate future:
East Palo Alto
As East Palo Alto continues to attract interest from commercial and office developers, three city council incumbents and four contenders are injecting talk of equitable development, affordable housing and neighborhood character preservation into their campaign platforms.
They’re fighting for votes in a city that’s been hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic, where many residents are low-income minorities who work essential jobs and are forced to live in crowded conditions because of the area’s expensive housing.
The incumbents are former longtime Ravenswood school board member Larry Moody and youth advocate Lisa Gauthier, who were both elected in 2012, and affordable housing advocate Carlos Romero, who has been on the council for 10 years. All three tout the council’s record of attracting job creating development and funding programs that help the city’s poorest.
The challengers are San Mateo County Housing Leadership Council director Steward Hyland, Planning Commissioner Juan Mendez, longtime resident and neuroscientist Webster Lincoln and Stanford literature doctoral candidate Antonio Dejesus Lopez.
Redwood City
For the first time, Redwood City residents will pick council candidates by
district instead of by atlarge. The council ordered that switch after the city was threatened with a lawsuit in 2018 for perpetuating a citywide voting system blamed by civil rights advocates for diluting the votes of minority residents.
Voters will choose from among candidates representing four geographical districts. Seats in the other three districts will be up in 2022.
In District 1, which represents the Redwood Shores a r e a , former C ou nc i lman Jeff Gee is contending a g a i n s t R e dwo o d Cit y C hamber of C ommerce member and Planning Commissioner Nancy Radcliffe.
Councilwoman A licia Aguirre is running for the District 7 seat, which includes Emerald Hills and the sur rounding a rea , against nonprof it pro - g ram fa cilit at or Ma rk Wolohan and Redwood City police Officer Chris Rasmussen.
In the race for District 3, which encompasses an area of the city south of downtown along Highway 101, Councilwoman Janet Borgens is being challenged by Lissette Espinoza- Garnica, a caregiver and teaching assistant, and Isabella Chu, chairwoman of the Friendly Acres Neighborhood Association.
Planning Commissioner Michael Smith apparently will become the District 4 council representative for the Redwood Junction neighborhood south of downtown because he was the only candidate.
Menlo Park
In Menlo Park, only one of the two council district seats is being contested in a race that has focused on transportation, affordable housing and policing issues.
For that District 3 seat, which encompasses Linfield Oaks, Vintage Oaks and Felton Gables, the candidates are Jen Wolosin, founder of Parents for Safe Routes and a member of the transportation master plan committee; Vietnam refugee and Air Force veteran Chelsea Nguyen; and triathlete, Black Lives Matter activist and Fenn Coffee owner Max Fenell.
Wolosin has campaigned on building a more extensive bicycle infrastructure in the city, Fenell on providing more affordable housing and reforming the city’s police department, and Nguyen on both affordable housing and improving alternate means of transportation.
Councilman Ray Mueller is running unopposed for District 5, which includes Sharon Heights, Stanford Hills and West Menlo.
State Senate District 13
During the hotly contested primary to see who will assume the mantle of termed- out Democratic state Sen. Jerry Hill, University of Merced founding trustee and Menlo Park resident Josh Becker emerged as the Democratic candidate to oppose Los Altos resident and engineer Alex Glew, a Republican.
Becker has the backing of prominent Democratic politicians such as Gov. Gavin Newsom, vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Sen. Hill.
District 13 encompasses San Mateo County and portions of northern Santa Clara County.
Hotel room taxes
Residents in East Palo Alto, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay and San Bruno are considering new hotel room tax hikes that city officials say are needed to help prevent programs and services from being cut as a result of the coronavirus pandemic’s economic impact.
San Bruno and San Mateo both both want to raise the room tax 2% to 14%, Half Moon Bay seeks a 3% increase to 15% and East Palo Alto is shooting for a 1% hike in 2022 and another 1% in 2023.
San Mateo County Board of Education
For the first time in several years, a seat on the San Mateo County Board of Education will be contested.
Chelsea Bonini, the founder of a nonprof it t h at fo c u se s on help - ing children and adults with disabilities, is seeking a return to the board she served on from 2013 to 2017. In her campaign, she has advocated for more special needs resources and finding ways to build teacher housing.
She’s trying to unseat Rod Hsiao, CEO of Inplay, a company that’s working to provide after-school activities for children during the pandemic. Hsiao has served on the board for 14 years and said he hopes to help families better navigate distance learning during the pandemic.
Caltrain Measure RR
Along with residents in San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, voters in San Mateo County are being asked to approve a 1/8-of-a-cent sales tax measure to generate about $108 million a year for Caltrain, which has lost a substantial amount of its fare revenue this year as commuters have avoided taking mass transit during the pandemic. Caltrain relies on fares to cover the bulk of its operating costs.