By Election 2002

Los Altos Hills

Town Crier Staff Report

Five people have filed for two open Los Altos Hills City Council seats in the November election.

With incumbents Toni Casey and Steve Finn not running for re-election, the Aug. 9 filing period deadline was extended to Aug. 14. Although seven people had taken out papers, only five filed.

Breene Kerr, Steve Hubbell and Dean Warshawsky all had filed as of Aug. 9, while Bill Kerns and Janet Vitu filed before Aug. 14.

Kerns and Vitu are both members of the Los Altos Hills Planning Commission.

Vitu, 41, is executive publisher of Track & Field News magazine. A resident since 1995, her goals include putting resident divisiveness to rest by establishing regulations that are not open to subjectivity.

She said town-owned open space properties such as Westwind Barn are town assets and “should not be sold without the support of the residents.”

Kerns, 47, an engineering manager with Lockheed Martin, said he would bring strong listening and managing skills to the council. “I’m a people oriented manager and a strong consensus building,” he said.

Kerr, 50, a high-tech marketing executive, said he is running partly out of an effort to save town open space. He said town government is “not responsive to the residents,” and cited the latest council approval of designs of a new Town Hall as an example. The council last month approved plans despite a groundswell of protest.

With regard to the town’s controversial off-road pathways system, Kerr favors a “go-slow approach - which we’re not seeing right now.” He also feels the “rural feeling of Los Altos Hills is at risk.”

Hubbell, 51, an engineer and manager, said the recent controversy over Town Hall prompted his jump into the council candidacy.

“I think it’s (the current design) too high and too expensive,” he said. “Half the height and half the cost is what to aim for.”

Hubbell is also concerned about the council making decisions without the necessary expertise, thought and resident feedback.

Warshawsky, 33, a technology sales representative, said he is running partly because he “wants to balance private land and open space.” He also said the council “had not been listening to the people as much as it should have been.”

Warshawsky cites extensive business and financial experience that he can bring to the council.