Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Paul Merchain

Council races shaping up as filing deadline approaches

Monte Sereno may have 9 candidates for 3 seats

Merchain declares in LG

By Jeff Kearns

With the filing deadlines for the Los Gatos and Monte Sereno council races quickly approaching, only one hopeful has officially filed and qualified to run in Los Gatos; in Monte Sereno, a whopping nine residents have pulled papers.

The deadline to file in both cities is Friday, Aug. 7, at 5 p.m., but if any incumbent fails to file, then the filing date for non-incumbents is extended to Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 5 p.m. With 16-year council veteran Joanne Benjamin calling it quits this year, Los Gatos probably won't have a final list of candidates until Aug. 12.

Planning Commissioner Joe Pirzynski was the first to file his papers with the Town Clerk's office. Councilmember Steve Blanton has also announced that he will be seeking a third term. Incumbent Randy Attaway, who has pulled papers, said he would be ready with an announcement sometime this week.

Last week, Los Gatos real estate consultant and San Jose native Paul Merchain confirmed that he would be entering the council race. "It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but the time wasn't right," he says.

Merchain, 51, says he's been attending Town Council and Planning Commission meetings over the last year while he mulled over a run for council; he was there, he said, mostly to listen to the concerns of other residents. Merchain isn't sure what issues he will focus on during his campaign, but says that the most important aspects of decision-making are gathering information and building consensus.

After going through the thick stack of forms candidates are required to fill out detailing campaign finances, Merchain says he's considering a more grassroots approach that would be focused on talking to other residents and walking the neighborhoods--and would keep his total campaign costs under $1,000.

Attorney David Prince has also pulled papers for the Los Gatos race but says he hasn't made a decision yet. Prince said that he would not run if all three incumbents were also in the race. Prince ran unsuccessfully in this year's primary race against Republican Assemblyman Jim Cunneen. He also proposed an initiative that would have made it tougher for California couples to divorce if they have children under 18, but it failed to qualify for the ballot.

All three incumbents in Monte Sereno--Dorothea Bamford, Suzanne Jackson and Jack Lucas--have pulled papers, according to city clerk Andrea Chelemengos. Only Jack Lucas, currently mayor, has actually filed. Jackson said she hadn't started gathering signatures yet, but said she, too, would probably run to keep her seat. Bamford was out of town and could not be reached.

Other residents who have pulled papers in Monte Sereno include Frank Barcells, Desmond Johnson, Lisa McDonald, Barbara Nesbet, Jim Rubniz and Rosemary Scher.

Barcells served on the Santa Clara City Council from 1950 to 1957, and again from 1967 to 1973, according to the Santa Clara clerk's office. He was appointed mayor in 1955.

Johnson, 73, a former developer, says he intends to make a run for council. The issues in Monte Sereno aren't that divisive, he says, but one of the things that could be improved is the council itself. "I'd like City Council meetings to be more brief and less contentious, and I think the city should be less intrusive in telling people what they can do with their property.

"When you go before the city to get something done, you feel like they're more into managing the details," he adds. "But there's some micromanagement, and that isn't needed."

Johnson, who has never held a political office before, was asked about running for the office by councilmember Joel Gambord. "He asked me if I'd be interested," Johnson said. "I was discussing the City Council with him, and he said I might like being on it."

McDonald, Nesbet, Rubniz and Scher could not be reached by press time.

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