Category: Candidates

Last Day to Register to Vote

October 24, 2016 No Comments

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

I’ve been asked by several people to send out an update on Atherton Civic Matters.  I apologize for the delay, but there has been a lot of activity with the election and many issues before us at the city council level.  I will get that summary out to you within two weeks of the election.  In the meantime, I wanted to send this out.  We have a significant number of new residents who haven’t yet registered at their new residences.  THIS IS A CRITICAL ELECTION WITHIN CALIFORNIA (because term limit rules have changed for the state legislature and those elected this year will set a new pattern) AND FOR THE NATION.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THIS ELECTION.  Instructions to do so are in the msg below.

Finally, if you didn’t get the message below from our City Clerk, then your email isn’t registered with the Town of Atherton.  Please register so that you can get the City Clerk’s very brief weekly updates about events and issues of importance to Atherton residents. You can register by sending an email to: tdellasanta@ci.atherton.ca.us

Thanks, Rick

Rick DeGolia
​Atherton City Council​
84 Clay Drive
Atherton, CA 94027

650.793.2800 (m)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Theresa DellaSanta, Assistant to the City Manager <listserv@civicplus.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 24, 2016 at 9:34 AM
Subject: Last Day to Register to Vote
To: degolia@gmail.com

Rick’s Endorsers from the 2014 Election

October 9, 2014

Past Mayors:

Jerry Carlson
Malcom Dudley
Didi Fisher
John Fisher
Jim Janz

 

Other Elected Officials:

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo

. . .

Maryan and Steve Ackley
Gail Alberti
Karen and Ellis Alden
Bianca and Jamie Alexander
Muffie and Fred Alvarez
Colleen and Grant Anderson
John Anderson
Tom and Tami Arrington
David and Marty Arscott
Alan and Marianne Austin
Melissa and Jim Badger
David Bagshaw
Rafi Bamdad
Ilda and Carl Barbieri
Elyse and David Barca
Ildiko and Robert Barker
Scott Barnum
Bill and Kay Bates
Todd and Inna Beardsley
Margaret and Daniel Beltramo
Eric and Edith Bergstrom
Rebecca and Jeff Berry
Cameron and Tito Bianchi
Susan Bird
Kerry and George Bischoff
John and Linda Bolger
Lori and Steve Bouret
Joni and Tom Brown
Beverly Browne
Kelly and David Burke
Suzanne and Bill Burrows
Sandra Buscemi
Shawn and Brook Byers>br />
Ferne Calcaterra
Peter Carpenter
Jennifer Carrico
Armando Castro
Shirley Carlson
Leslie Coleman
Chris Darwall
Liz and Mark Daschbach
Christine and Mike David
Jean and Duncan Davidson
Patti and Mark Davis
Kathy and Norm Dewitt
John and Susan Diekman
Michelle and Gary Dillabough
Dimitrios Dimitrelis
Betsy and Don Dixon
Dave Dollinger
Steve Dostart and Sharon Meers
Julie and Mark Douglass
Jim and Mary Drake
John Duane
Peter Drekmeier
Cosette Dudley
Elizabeth and Bruce Dunlevie
Louise El-Sum
Alain and Rosemary Enthoven
Kyle Enright
Carolyn and Scott Feamster
Claire Feder
John and Chris Fennell
Sandra Ferrando
Judi and Jerry Finch
David Fleck and Elaine Wong
Mark Flegel
Jill and Norm Fogelsong
Diana and Freeman Ford

Laura and John Foster
Karen Francis
Keiko Franklin
John Friedenrich
Liz and Doug Fritz
Marilee Gardner
Valerie Gardner
Dominic and Eva Geraghty
Diane and Charlie Giancarlo
Margaret Gill
Betsy Glikbarg
Ernie Goiten
John and Marcia Goldman
Bianca Gonzalez
Edward Goodstein
Peter and Carol Grassi
Josh and Judy Green
William and Susan Grindley
Bob and Anne Gunderson
Susan and Steven Hailey
Sherman and Jane Hall
Jim and Marsha Hannay
Griff Harsh
Ken Hausman
Bob Hellman and Holly Cao
Sarah and Stephen Herrick
Margaret Hinman
Tom and Kathy Holt
Susan and Joel Hyatt
Frauke Janssen
Kathy Janz
David Jones
Anita and Chris Joy
Kent and Linda Kaiser
Alyce and Steve Kaplan
Guy and Beth Kawasaki
Chris Kelley
Elizabeth Kerrigan
Nancy and Andy Kessler
Ed King
Leslie and Charles King
Jill and John Kispert
Fred and Gail Kittler
Kris Klint
Ross Koningstein
Vivian Kral
Denise Kupperman
Kathy and Michael Ladra
Rajeeva and Sangeeta Lahri
Randy and Lisa Lamb
Joan Lambert
David Lampert
Janet Larson
Lois Larson
Gary and Laura Lauder
Linda and Skip Law
Herb Lechner and Kay Clarke
Jeffrey Lee
Bren and Larry Leisure
Darcy and Mark Leschly
Ginger and Doug Levick
Sandy and Dave Levison
Joe Lewis
Linda and Sid Liebes
Debbie and Mike Linton
Joyce and Phil Lively
Connie and Robert Loarie
Greg Loew
Larry and Jennie Lowry
Connie and Bob Lurie
Helen and Dick MacDonell
Jillian Manus
Jim and Judy Massey
Susan Masetti
Louis Matas
Anne and William McNertney
Janice and Kevin Meier
Janice and Kevin Meisel
Clive Merredew
Alan Miller
Bill Miller
Suzanne and Indra Mohan
Russ and Kate Moore
John Moragne
Mark Moriconi

Jeff Morris
Merv and Roslyn Morris
Elissa Murphy
Susan and Gib Myers
Ben and Alex Narasin
Maaike Neves
Lorrie Norrington
Pejam and Mania Nozad
Sue and Bob O’Donnell
Michelle and Erik Olsen
Marion and Bob Oster
Robert Oyster
Hana and Peter Palecek
Lori and Vic Para
Roslyn and Lisle Payne
Wendy Petersmeyer
Bill Peterson
Barbara and Ron Peyton
Jack Phillips
Laura and Mark Pitchford
Bob Polito
Barbara and Charles Preuss
Linda and Eric Protiva
Russel and Helen Pyne
Andrea and Geoff Ralston
Jan and Neil Rasmussen
Jenny Redo and Kevin Brown
Earl Rennison
Jack Ringham
Walter and Judith Robinson
Mindy and Jesse Rodgers
Sharon and Bob Roeser
Danielle and Mario Rosati
Debbie and Stuart Rosenberg
Shelley and Bernard Ross
Peter Rukavina and Wendy Adams
Kim and Henry Sabet
Mansour and Liza Salame
Steve and Lisa Schatz
Randy and Kelly Schmitz
Lee and Bill Schroeder
Bobbie Schumacher
Alicia and Jim Seebold
Susan and Richard Seiler
Anne Senti-Willis
June and Mario Sevilla
Hildy Shandell
Sheri and John Shenk
Mark Silverman
Howard and Susan Slayen
Carol and Ned Spieker
Madeline and Isaac Stein
Mary and Mark Stevens
Margaret Tao
Barry Taylor and Libby Tyree-Taylor
John and Debbie Thibault
Jonathan Tiemann
Marylue Timpson
Paul Tonelli
Tom Toy
Carolyn and Todd Tuomala
Roxanne Velez
Loren Viegas
Stephanie and Gregg von Thaden
Anne Yvonne Walker
Ray Walton
Don and Sylvia Way
Betty and Michael Weinstock
Heidi and David Welch
Steve Westly
Catherine and Robert Westover
Zachary Whitman
Barb and John Windham
Jeff Wise
David Wollenberg
Keith Wollenberg
John and Margaret Worthing
Elizabeth Wright
Marsha Wythes
Patricia and Newt Yaeger
Amy and Geoff Yang
Kim Young
Tricia Young
Ingrid and George Yule
Barbara zuPutiz

Atherton: Relative unknown wins landslide council victory

November 12, 2013 No Comments

by Renee Batti / Almanac

 

Image of Rick DeGolia by Dave Boyce

(Cross-posted from an expanded version of an earlier Almanac story. Image by Dave Boyce/Almanac.)

Atherton voters gave political newcomer Rick DeGolia a giant thumbs-up on election day, with 62 percent of them backing his bid for a one-year term on the City Council to fill the seat left vacant by Jerry Carlson’s July resignation.

“My name was not known when I started (the campaign), but I built a very strong relationship to a lot of people,” Mr. DeGolia told the Almanac when asked about his sweeping victory in the three-candidate race.

 

The lack of name recognition is understandable: Before January, Mr. DeGolia hadn’t served on a single town committee or commission, and before the November 2012 election, hadn’t participated significantly in the town’s often-polarized political arena.

By contrast, one opponent — Greg Conlon — has not only served on town committees for nearly 10 years, but also came in a close third in a race for two council seats last year.

The county Elections Office late last week reported Mr. DeGolia winning 1,066 votes (62.2 percent); Mr. Conlon, 357 votes (20.8 percent); and Diane Sandhu, also a relative newcomer to town civic affairs, 290 votes (17 percent). The county will update those figures on Nov. 12, according to the Elections Office website.

 

[Please continue reading this article at the Almanac Online]

Congratulations, Rick!

November 9, 2013 No Comments

Results of the 2013 Election, to fill the remaining one-year term for the seat of departed Councilmember, Jerry Carlson:

 

Screen Shot 2013-11-14 at 10.35.17 AM

Message from Rick DeGolia:

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this campaign, whether by working on this website, hosting or attending one of the 15 neighborhood meetings, putting up a yard sign, donating to the campaign, expressing your concerns and opinions about issues facing Atherton or voting in the election.  Throughout this process, I have met more residents and made more friends than I thought possible when I began.  I am deeply honored by the depth of support that I received and I am thrilled to be able to join the Atherton City Council on December 4.

The experience of this election has strengthened my belief that Atherton is a truly special place and that people want to see change.  In addition, I want to give sincere thanks to Jerry Carlson for his exceptional service to Atherton and how seriously he represented our town in the many regional bodies in which he participated.  I am proud to count him as a friend and a mentor.  I also want to thank Greg Conlon and Diane Sandhu for their commitment to Atherton. I look forward to working with each of them on the issues facing Atherton into the future.

*  *  *  *  *

DeGolia wins seat on Atherton City Council by large magin; residents overwhelmingly approve parcel tax renewal

November 8, 2013 No Comments

Reposted from Mercury Breaking New article by Jason Green,

Daily News Staff Writer

A Picture of myself and KarenRick DeGolia will fill a single open seat on the Atherton City Council if semi-official election results hold.

With all eight precincts reporting Tuesday night, DeGolia had nearly 63 percent of the vote. Greg Conlon trailed with about 20.2 percent and Diane Sandhu had 16.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Measure X had secured 74.1 percent of the vote. The parcel tax, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, generates about $1.86 million annually and helps pay for police service and infrastructure work.

The winner of the council race will serve out the final year of Vice Mayor Jerry Carlson’s four-year term. Carlson, 76, resigned July 1 because he wanted to spend more time traveling with his wife.

The city council couldn’t agree on a replacement for Carlson and voted in July to hold an election.

[Continue reading this article at the Mercury News: Breaking News site]

What were you for Halloween?

October 31, 2013 No Comments

photo 2Halloween is upon us and with it the welcome respite from the day-to-day normal into the freaky, bizarre and eerie.  So it was with the Rick DeGolia campaign that, unbeknownst to us, the serious, articulate and well-intentioned Rick transformed unwittingly into several (and we don’t know exactly how many) satirical, glib and possibly macabre figures roaming the streets on this hallowed eve, with nary a voter in sight.  photo 1We campaign staffers were heartened and rather charmed to learn the news that many and even possibly most of the Rick DeGolia yard signs that went missing over the last few weeks were taken by local students on some kind of viral craze that involved ritualistic usage of Rick DeGolia signs and backpacks.  Yes, it seems that being “Rick DeGolia” began to catch on with the youthful cognoscenti at the schools  a few weeks ago and, however improbable, being Rick DeGolia became the thing to be for Halloween.  So, what were you for Halloween?

 

Rick Receives Almanac Endorsement

October 23, 2013

On October 21, 2013 Rick received the endorsement of the Almanac’s editorial board. We are pleased to reprint the article below, or you can see it on the Almanac’s website here.

ALMANAC

Viewpoint – October 23, 2013

2013 Editorial: Rick DeGolia for Atherton Council

Screen Shot 2013-10-24 at 1.11.44 AM

Besides deciding whether to renew the parcel tax (see below) Atherton residents will select one of three City Council candidates to replace Jerry Carlson, who resigned in July.

Of the three candidates running, our choice is Rick DeGolia, vice chair of the Civic Center Advisory Committee and a high-tech business executive and lawyer who has some fresh ideas that we believe could improve the council’s relations with the community. His opponents are Greg Conlon, a former state Public Utilities Commission member who now serves as chair of the town’s finance committee, and Diane Sandhu, who is now that committee’s vice chair.

In our opinion, Mr. DeGolia stands out in this race due to his insights as a longtime business executive and corporate board member and his willingness to listen, respectfully, to all ideas and try to come up with creative solutions to problems before the council and of concern to residents. His decision to get involved in town government was sparked in the last election, when he was dismayed that the proposal to build a library in Holbrook-Palmer Park was pushed “from the top down” by a slim council majority, he said.

Mr. DeGolia notes that the town was recently able to pay $2 million toward its long-term pension obligation, which he says is due in part to the influx of many young families who are moving to Atherton and paying higher property taxes. Mr. DeGolia says these families will want playing fields, bike lanes and a safe way for pedestrians to cross El Camino Real, where several fatal accidents have occurred recently.

Mr. DeGolia did not accept support from the police union, and said he believes there is almost no possibility that the town will outsource police services. He did say that police costs and pensions, which take up more than half the town’s budget, are worthy of discussion.

Mr. DeGolia is a candidate who will make sensible decisions as a council member. He vows to listen to residents and says he will try to make the council’s decisions as transparent as possible. He is not endorsed by any current council members, who split 2-2 on many issues, so Mr. DeGolia could be a swing vote. We urge voters to elect Rick DeGolia to the Atherton City Council.

[To read the endorsement as posted on  the Almanac Online, click here!]
Reprinted in its entirety with permission.

Helping residents address a problem

October 15, 2013

[Re-printed from an email message sent to NextDoor]

Hello,
To Atherton voters,

airplane-noise-over-dearborn-300x199I would like to share how active and strategic Rick DeGolia (who is campaigning for Atherton Council) has been with the Surf Air noise matter.  From the moment I met him at our meeting, I could see he was deeply involved, he has championed the cause for all of us and provided thoughtful guidance. He has provided really good leadership in these areas:

  1. The encouragement that we reach out and create a strong resident group before we meet with Surf Air and the Airport;
  2. The inclusion of Elizabeth Lewis, Atherton representative on the Noise Abatement Roundtable, and George Rodericks, City Manager;
  3. Making sure that we get a decibel reading under a Surf Air flight before the meeting;
  4. Guidance and redirection of our focus to make our strategy to seek to change the flight path for all planes approaching the San Carlos airport. This is a much more fundamental fix to the noise and safety problem than our prior focus;
  5. Involvement and summary at the meeting with Surf Air that while it is right for Surf Air to make incremental changes to their flap use and other operational procedures that it is imperative that they invest in understanding why their flights are more noisy than other flights coming into the airport; and
  6. Work to forge a consensus at the meeting to get both Surf Air and San Carlos Airport to agree that the only fundamental fix is to change the flight path and to agree that this is in the interests of Surf Air and the Airport, such that they agreed to work with us (and even to lead the effort) to act as a united front in our approach to the FAA.

This is an ongoing concern, and I am confident that with Rick’s help, Surf Air and the airport make changes, but they will also work with us to craft a solution that we can take to the FAA. Ultimately, Rick would be a superb asset to the Atherton Council — Please vote for him.

Kind Regards,
Dan

DeGolia campaign takes high ground

October 8, 2013

LawnSignforWebSiteIn a development that is reminiscent of the bitter political battles characterizing the council era dominated by a circle of long-time political insiders, lawn signs placed by the “Elect Rick DeGolia” campaign around town have been reported missing.  All of the missing signs had been placed at the request of, and with the permission of, the homeowners.

Writing to supporters, Rick chose to take the high ground regarding these thefts.  He suggested that while he didn’t know who was doing this, that part of the possible motivation was to generate controversy in his campaign that they could then capitalize on.  Instead of responding with an approach that gets negative press, Rick wrote: “I think that the right solution is to replace the signs as quickly as possible . . . .  The best response to this theft is quickly increase the number of signs that were out there.”

“The reason that they are doing this is because they are threatened: I got my signs out early and I only put them in locations where I received permission from the property owner.  Someone obviously feels threatened by my candidacy.   I have been endorsed by a very broad range of Atherton residents.  I have been told that this is the broadest support that someone has had in 30 years.  I am proud of that.  The right way to fight back is to fight back in numbers, not in the press.”

Rick has now ordered and received another 100 signs and, while Rick is not willing to engage in the same old “fighting with accusations in the press,”  he continues to campaign with a very vibrant and active schedule of resident-hosted events where he meets and talks with an increasingly broad cross-section of the community.  We invite you to come meet Rick at one of these events and we thank those of you who have gotten to meet Rick for making contact with your friends and neighbors about Rick’s positive campaign.  We welcome all supporters and we will continue to provide those who would like a lawn sign placed or replaced at their home.