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Posted: Wednesday, November 5, 2003

Portola Valley rejects Measure H; Steven Kennedy nearly wins
Two school tax measures pass easily.

In an election Tuesday with a very light turnout -- only 20 percent of the 340,832 registered voters in San Mateo County cast ballots – there were a couple of local surprises.

Complete local results of Tuesday's eleciton.

Portola Valley voters rejected the unanimous recommendation by the Town Council to rezone three lots near Alpine and Portola roads for more-affordable housing, and controversial Menlo Park fire board candidate Steven Kennedy nearly won re-election -- and still could win after all absentee ballots are counted.

In the Menlo Park City School District, voters easily passed two parcel tax measures.

The following results are with all 422 precincts in the county reporting. Although not all absentee ballots are counted, the only local race that’s too close to call is the Menlo Park fire board contest.

School tax measures

By big margins, voters in the Menlo Park City School District approved two parcel tax measures: Measure A, which renews an existing $97 a year parcel tax; and Measure B, which creates a new $73 a year parcel tax to help restore some of the money lost in state budget cuts. The taxes have no expiration dates. Passage required approval by two-thirds of the voters. Measure A won approval of 80.6 percent of voters (4,133 to 994), and

Measure B won 77.2 percent of the vote (3,964 to 1,171).

Portola Valley zoning

The controversial Measure H -- a proposal to rezone three lots near the corner of Alpine and Portola roads to allow construction of 15 to 20 small homes – was defeated by a vote of 881 to 758.

Although the measure had the unanimous support of the Town Council, a major campaign was undertaken to defeat it. Opponents said the development would be too dense and would be a threat to the rural character of Portola Valley. They raised $17,000 for the campaign to defeat it, more than seven times the amount raised by proponents.

Menlo Park Fire District

With absentee ballots still to count, controversial incumbent Steven Kennedy was just 20 votes shy of winning re-election to the five-member board of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District.

With all precincts reporting, the top three vote-getters for the two open seats on the board were: incumbent Bart Spencer, 5,128; challenger John Osmer, 2,565; and Mr. Kennedy, 2,546.

Mr. Kennedy’s strong showing was a major surprise, considering that the fire board has voted three times to censure him for “misconduct,” including for showing disrespect to firefighters.

The two other challengers were Erwin Ericksen (1,085 votes) and Pete Hammond (1,056).

High school district

The three incumbents -- Lorraine Rumley, Don Gibson and Olivia Martinez -- won re-election to seats on the five-member board of the Sequoia Union High School District. The terms are four years.

The only other candidate was challenger Karen Leong Clancy, an eight-year member of the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District.

The vote count was: Ms. Rumley, 14,843; Mr. Gibson, 14,457; Ms. Martinez, 14,170; and Ms. Clancy, 10,681.

Community College District

With seven candidates competing for three seats on the five-member board of the San Mateo County Community College District, the two incumbents -- Karen Schwarz and Patricia Miljanich -- plus challenger Dave Mandelkern came out on top. The district includes Canada College in Woodside, as well as Skyline college and College of San Mateo. The seats are for four years.

Portola Valley School District

In the Portola Valley School District’s first contested election in 10 years, active school volunteers and parents Karen Shishino Jordan and Teresa Godfrey won the two open seats on the five-member school board. Five challengers (no incumbents) were in the race. The seats are for four years. The vote: Ms. Jordan, 787; Ms. Godfrey, 653; Andy Thorson, 612; Kimberly Brown, 269; Joe Androlowicz, 220; Alan Denenberg, 177; and Maria Geenen, 128. The last two withdrew from the race after the filing period closed.

Portola Valley council

This was an uncontested election, with two candidates running for two seats on the Portola Valley Town Council. Planning Commissioner Steve Toben got 984 votes, and incumbent Councilman Edward Davis, 895 votes.

Woodside council

Although there were five candidates running for four seats on the Woodside Town Council, the only contest was in District 3 where incumbent Susan Boynton defeated challenger Erik James Corrigan, 665 to 299. The other three candidates were incumbents who won their districts without opposition: Dave Tanner (655 votes) in District 1, Paul Goeld (689) in District 5, and Pete Sinclair (676) in District 7. Council members must reside in the voting district they represent, although they are elected in a town-wide vote.

West Bay Sanitary District

The three incumbents -- Ronald W. Shepherd, David A. Walker and John B. Lomax -- were re-elected to four-year terms on the board of the West Bay Sanitary District. Finn T. Halbo, who served on the board for 24 years before being ousted by voters in 1999, failed in his attempt at a comeback. The vote count: Shepherd, 4,193; Walker, 3,964; Lomax, 3,605; and Halbo, 1,774.