By Eliza Ridgeway

Los Altos Planning Commissioners Megan Satterlee and Randall Hull have joined the race for a seat on the city council. Incumbents David Casas and Ron Packard are running for re-election, while Mayor Curtis Cole said he would not run again. Three seats are up for grabs in the November election.

Both Hull and Satterlee have sought positions on the city council before. Satterlee was one of three finalists considered for appointment to the council last December, when Councilman Kurt Colehower resigned after accepting a position as CEO of Arrow Electronics. Former Los Altos mayor Lou Becker won the appointment and will serve on the council until 2009.

Hull ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2005, losing to Val Carpenter and Kurt Colehower. He said the experience of that campaign taught him to be more circumspect in expressing his views.

“A lot of it has to do with presentation style. I’m very passionate about what I believe,” Hull said. “(But) if residents don’t think I’m listening to them, they won’t want me to represent them on council.”

Satterlee said that competing for the council appointment last fall gave her a taste of the opportunities provided by a council seat.

“I want to get involved in policy decisions,” Satterlee said. “I’m interested in all the commercial districts … (and) we have aging infrastructure we need to deal with.”

Satterlee, a business manager at Hewlett-Packard, has lived in Los Altos since 2003. She is serving her first term on the Los Altos Planning Commission and previously served on the Sunnyvale Planning Commission.

Hull, an advertising and marketing communications director, has lived in Los Altos for seven years. He is serving his second term as planning commissioner.

The period for filing for the city council race ends Friday.