Aug 31, 2008

Bohannon group draws challenger

Developer hopes to educate voters

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

David Bohannon's newly formed organization, Sustainable Menlo Park, is attracting interest from an array of political aficionados in the city, including Rick Ciardella, the lone challenger in this year's city council election.

The group, which Bohannon says is nonpartisan and won't endorse or support any of the three candidates this year, has met three times since the local developer launched it in early July. Rather than try to influence elections, Sustainable Menlo Park was designed to educate voters on economic development, transit-oriented and high-density housing, and the problems resulting from expensive project delays, Bohannon said. He said forming the group during an election year is a mere coincidence.

The group's last meeting, on Aug. 20 at the Sharon Heights Country Club, drew about 30 people including Council Member John Boyle, Housing Commission Chair Elizabeth Lasensky, former planning commissioner Harry Bims, former council members Gail Slocum, Steve Schmidt and Chuck Kinney, and Ciardella, Bohannon said.

"There was a very broad collection and coalition of community members in attendance," Bohannon said.

Ciardella said Bohannon invited him and that he attended the meeting as an interested citizen and a landscape architect, not as a city council candidate. Nevertheless, since he is running for a political seat this year, Ciardella said he feels obliged to hear as many opinions about Menlo Park as possible.

"As a candidate running for office, I need to do a lot of listening, a lot of thinking, and gather a lot of input," Ciardella said.

The remaining city council members, including this year's incumbent candidates Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen, also have been invited to the meetings, Bohannon said, adding that he's spoken with all them about Sustainable Menlo Park.

As the first council member to attend, Boyle said he was curious about the group's ideas and impressed to see people from across the ideological spectrum at the last meeting. Boyle said he gave a 10-minute briefing on the state of Menlo Park projects, such as the Derry Lane condominium mixed-use development and the 1300 El Camino Real retail development.

Bohannon currently has plans for a hotel, office and retail project totaling almost 1 million square feet in eastern Menlo Park's industrial sector. The group is planning another meeting in late September.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.