Campaign for Los Altos Hills City Council heats up

By Eliza Ridgeway, Town Crier Staff Writer

This year’s Los Altos Hills City Council campaign has centered on the school redistricting issue, but longstanding questions of property rights, development policy and town politics underlie the race this fall.

Three candidates are vying for two open seats on the council in the Nov. 7 election. Challenger John Vidovich has taken on incumbents Breene Kerr and Dean Warshawsky, both of whom are completing their first term in office.

Both Kerr and Warshawsky described the town’s involvement in past school lawsuits as a matter of defending town zoning policies and bringing school choice to residents for a vote.

Bad feelings between the Los Altos School District and the town still exist, with skepticism from some on the council, including Kerr and Warshawsky, that the district will carry out its plans to reopen Bullis-Purissima and accommodate Los Altos Hills students.

Vidovich, a longtime school district supporter, called such claims an “unreasonable belief” and said that fostering a more united sense of community between Los Altos and Los Altos Hills is one of his campaign priorities.

Renovating Westwind Barn, one of the town’s most significant properties, is likely to be among the largest projects the council undertakes in the next four years. Kerr, a member of the barn redesign committee, said he looks forward to working on the physical plans for remodeling the property. Vidovich called the barn’s problems “overblown” and said the town should work to support Friends of Westwind as they continue to operate the barn.

Infrastructure improvements, particularly sewer development and cell-phone tower installations, should continue over the next few years and will likely feature prominently on council agendas.

On an abstract level, each of the three candidates summarized the focus he would bring to a potential council: Warshawsky - moderate “carrot instead of the stick” interest in homeowner incentives; Vidovich - belief in less government involvement and regulation; and Kerr - commitment to leadership by example, both within the town and by the town on a regional level.