By Town Crier Staff

There should be no shortage of candidates in this November’s Los Altos City Council race if every potential candidate who took out papers files them next month.

Since the filing period opened July 14, five residents had taken out candidacy papers Monday for the three, four-year seats on the Los Altos City Council up for grabs this November when incumbents Kris Casto, Lou Becker and Francis La Poll’s terms expire.

Valerie Carpenter, Ron Packard, Curtis Cole, Stephen Smiley and David Casas had taken out papers within the first three days, according to City Clerk Carol Scharz.

Carpenter has experience serving on the Historical Commission; Casas has served on the Los Altos School Board and Parks Commission; Cole is a member of the planning commission; Packard is a member of the finance committee; and Smiley, a 13-year resident, is a software engineer who ran against Councilmembers John Moss and King Lear in 1997.

Potential candidates have until Aug. 8 to file their paperwork unless none of the incumbents file by that date - in which case, the deadline will extend until Aug. 13.

Casto and Becker both said they do not plan to seek re-election. La Poll is undecided.

All three incumbents are finishing their second consecutive terms. No councilmember has served three consecutive terms since 1978, when the city put in place a policy to limit council terms before state law allowed cities to impose such constraints legally.

A Los Altos law prohibiting councilmembers from serving a third consecutive term will go into effect after this election. It doesn’t apply to current councilmembers whose second terms are up this fall, City Attorney Marc Hynes confirmed last April.