Rick’s Council Campaigns

My relationship with Atherton began in the 1950’s when visiting my grandparents, who lived for forty-three years on Catalpa Drive in Lindenwood.  I have fond memories of running through their garden and helping my grandfather with his berries and his compost.  After receiving a BA in American Studies from Cal and a JD from Harvard, I returned to Atherton thirteen years ago to raise my children here.

Over the past twenty-eight years, I have worked as a business lawyer at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati in Palo Alto and as a software executive at Genesys Telecommunications and other Silicon Valley companies. During this time, I have served on the Boards of many technology companies and non-profit organizations and I have learned how to approach difficult strategic issues and negotiate reasonable solutions that respect the needs of different stakeholders.  I believe that my years of board and executive experience and my personal style of deliberation and negotiation have proved to be extremely valuable to my work with the members of the Atherton Town Council and staff over the past year and that they will enable me to continue to work towards a respectful, intellectual and productive process on the Council.

I currently serve as Atherton’s Vice Mayor and as a council liaison to the Civic Center Advisory Committee, the Finance and Audit Committee and the Park and Recreation Committee.  I have also helped establish and serve as a Council liaison to the newly created ad hoc Aircraft Noise Committee and the ad hoc Technology Committee.  Working with other dedicated residents who are members of these committees has inspired and energized me to become more involved with the future of Atherton.  One of the critical changes that I believe we need on our town council is more thoughtful consideration of the issues that matter to the community well in advance of when a decision must be made.

I am running for Town Council because I believe that people deserve responsible, accountable, transparent government.

My vision and priorities to improve Atherton are as follows:

1.  Manage our Town’s resources in a careful, fiscally conservative manner.

• Continue to manage operational costs with vigilance; focus on capital improvement projects.
• Continue to reduce Atherton’s long term pension and healthcare liabilities through good management and smart negotiations.
• Maintain the Town’s transparency on budget and decision making process.
  
  

2.   Protect our neighborhoods from traffic safety problems and crime.

• Maintain Atherton’s close, cooperative relationship with the police, while carefully managing the costs.
• Focus on finding solutions to make El Camino Real safer for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.
• Leverage the tremendous expertise in the community by engaging more residents to solve road safety and other issues.
  
  

3.  Prioritize communication to residents and always be accessible.

• Increase communication to obtain resident input on important Town Council decisions.
• Actively seek resident input to prioritize capital improvement projects for our roads, drainage system and Holbrook-Palmer Park.
• Continue to engage the community in the design and development of the new civic center and library near the train station.
• Contribute executive expertise to Council deliberations and process.
  
  

I will listen to you. I am interested in your opinions and am eager to represent your interests. My experience representing people and creatively developing solutions to challenging problems will be a benefit to Atherton’s Council and to you, Atherton’s residents.

You can read  more about my personal and professional background and experience at the “About Rick” menu option above.  Also, if you are able, I would welcome your help with this campaign. You can reach me at: rick@rickdegolia.com.

Thank you for your support!