Issue date: October 20, 1999

So far, no contest for Portola Valley council So far, no contest for Portola Valley council (October 20, 1999)

Thanks to some bad timing, three candidates for the Portola Valley Town Council will appear on the ballot in that town although they have no challengers for the three open seats on the five-member council.

At the close of the filing period in August, town council members did not move fast enough; they missed the legal deadline to cancel the election and appoint the three candidates.

According to Town Hall, no one has filed to run as a write-in candidate. The deadline to register as a write-in candidate is Tuesday, October 19. The only write-in votes that will be counted are those cast for registered write-in candidates.

So, it looks likely that Planning Commissioner Ed Davis will join Mayor Craig Brown and Councilman Kirke Comstock on the new council in December.

Mr. Davis will replace two-term Councilman Gary Nielsen, who chose not to run for a third term.

Mr. Brown and Mr. Comstock, however, are performing an interesting switch. Mr. Brown is running for a two-year term created when Mr. Comstock was appointed to replace former Councilman Richard Merk, who resigned near the middle of his term. Mr. Comstock, a former mayor of Palo Alto, is running for a full four-year term.