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Politics & Government

No Sharp Elbows at Candidate Forum

Trio running for Town Council find little to disagree about, from deer overpopulation to house sizes.

From "the bunny question" to what they thought about building extremely large houses, the three candidates for Los Altos Hills Town Council sought to distinguish themselves during a genial candidates forum Tuesday night.

"How does one distinguish between three really good candidates?" candidate Gary Waldeck asked the nearly 40 attendees who had come to Town Hall to hear them. "That's tough." 

The League of Women Voters' Los Altos-Mountain View chapter allowed written questions of the three, who are aiming to fill two open council seats in November.

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Candidates John RadfordJoan Sherlock and Waldeck lightly debated such issues as the financial stability of Los Altos Hills, house sizes, water, pathways, emergency preparedness—even the overpopulation of deer in the area. But there wasn't much disagreement.

"Facing our financial future, the biggest challenge we have right now is CalPERS and medical funds for our employees," said the 57-year-old Sherlock, referring to the California Public Employees Retirement System. Sherlock emphasized her unique perspective as a native and lifelong resident of Los Altos Hills. Her father, Thomas Sherlock, helped found the town of Los Altos Hills, and her husband, Breene Kerr, is mayor.

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Waldeck suggested the city use its budget surplus to help with retirement funds, but Radford warned against spending money on new projects, even in a financially stable community. "We have to make sure that the money we spend is supported by the revenue."

Radford, 61, is the co-founder of Radford Associates, has lived in Los Altos since 1998 and served on the town's Town Hall, Donor Wall and Education committees. Radford strongly supports the preservation of public education, saying that "it's one of the most important things this town can have."

Waldeck, a 67-year-old retiree, moved to Los Altos in 2005 and has served on the Water Conservation Committee and Emergency Communications Committee. He is president of the Purissima Hills Water District Board, a subject of slight discord at the forum.

"We need to do more than just raise rates," Radford said about the water board's decision to increase rates to encourage conservation. "We need to get serious about the fact that we need to conserve water. We are in big trouble."

Sherlock suggested the city use excess water from Palo Alto's Wastewater Treatment Plant. "There are gallons being poured back into the bay," she said. "We could use that water for our own landscaping water."

Another subject on the table in the Town Hall Council Chambers Tuesday night was the concern over building home compounds in the hills. None of the candidates said they liked such homes, that can be 20,000 square feet or more, but they recognized the rights of property owners.

"Right now, those ordinances allow you to build," said Radford. "Twenty to 30 new homes get built in the hills every year. They provide additional revenue to the town, and if they follow the ordinances, we should let them build."

Radford and Waldeck opened the door to discussion of changing ordinances to limit house size, citing Portola Valley, Woodside and Hillsborough as places that have grappled with limits. Sherlock suggested that Palo Alto might have been more effective.

Asked about Heifer International's plan to construct a "Global Village," a world hunger and poverty education center on Hidden Villa's lower fields along Moody Road, all three voiced objections to the location, which is under county jurisdiction.

"That spot is not a good place to put it," Sherlock said. "It's close to a big part of Adobe Creek."

The issue of emergency preparedness surfaced more than once at the forum. "I really want to cover the whole town with complete emergency preparedness services," said Sherlock, who is CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) trained. "What we lack is everybody in the community knowing where to go if something happens. I think this town could be one of the best prepared on the Peninsula."

Waldeck, an amateur radio operator for many years, agreed, adding, "The pathways provide much more than recreational activity. It provides emergency ingress-egress."

When a question came up about what the candidates could do about the deer and rabbit overpopulations, Radford admitted he hates the thought of even running over a squirrel. "We live in this town because of the rural nature of the town," he said, shivering over the thought of roadkill.

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