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Jennifer Wise, who is running for Menlo Park’s District 5 City Council Seat, leads in spending among the three candidates running for seats on the City Council, according to the latest campaign finance reports that were due on Sept. 26.
Candidates, or candidate committees, that raise more than $2,000 are required to file a statement reporting donations received and money spent between July 1 and Sept. 21.
The other candidate for Menlo Park’s District 5 seat, Greg Conlon, did not file a campaign fundraising statement, which suggests that his campaign has raised less than the $2,000 threshold.
Jeff Schmidt, the uncontested candidate for the city’s District 3 seat, has raised about the same amount of money as Wise, though he has spent just under half of what Wise has spent on the race.
Jennifer Wise
So far, Wise’s campaign has raised $4,704 to support her race, with $750 coming from her own personal contributions. She has spent $3,105, according to her Sept. 26 filing.
The top contributor to her campaign is the San Mateo County International Association of Firefighters Local 2400, the union that represents Menlo Park firefighters. IAFF Local 2400 donated $1,000 to her campaign.
She also received a $500 donation from Camille Thomas, a Woodside resident, and another $500 donation from Kim Hawley, a resident of Mount Dora, Florida. She was given $250 by Libby Doggett of Austin, Texas, and $200 by Dima El Machnouk of Palo Alto.
Wise, who is currently the vice chair of Menlo Park’s Library Commission, received support from current and former Menlo Park commission members. Jennifer Schindler, a planning commission member, gave $300 to Wise’s campaign. Karen Grove, a founder of Menlo Together and a former housing commission member, gave $250 to her campaign. Carol Orton, chair of the library commission, gave $100 to her campaign. She received another $100 from Sally Cole, the chair of the complete streets commission.
Notably, Wise also received a $35 donation from current District 5 council member Maria Doerr.
She received nine other donations of $100 or less.
Jeff Schmidt
Schmidt’s campaign has raised $6,850 in total and has spent $1,436, according to his campaign finance disclosure forms. The money raised includes a $3,000 loan that Schmidt made to his own campaign. Since Schmidt announced his campaign in April, he has filed two campaign finance reports, one on July 22 and one on Sept. 28.
IAFF Local 2400 is also the largest donor to Schmidt’s campaign, with another $1,000 donation.
He also received a $200 donation from Jason Schmidt of Texas and $250 from Maria Amundson, a resident of Menlo Park.
Schmidt, who currently chairs Menlo Park’s Environmental Quality Commission, also received support from current and former Menlo Park commission members. Katie Behroozi, a planning commissioner, gave $200 to Schmidt’s campaign. Kristin Duriseti, a former environmental quality commission member, gave $200 to his campaign. Schmidt also received $250 from Grove and $200 from Cole.
He received 20 other donations of $100 or less.
Measure CC
Menlo Park’s Measure CC, a ballot measure that would increase the city’s transient occupancy tax within the city by 3.5%, from 12% to 15.5%, over a two year period, has not received much attention.
Menlo Park City Clerk Judi Herren confirmed that no committees in favor of or opposed to the ballot measure have been created, and therefore no money has been spent on this race.
The Menlo Park City Council voted to place the measure on the ballot in July to help solve ongoing funding issues that the city is facing.
Menlo Park’s 2024-25 budget included a deficit of about $820,000. The city has lost several revenue sources over the past few years, including the utility-user tax and certain types of funding from the state.
The Transient Occupancy Tax, colloquially known as a hotel tax, is a tax paid by visitors to the city who stay in hotels or short-term rentals such as Airbnbs.
The ballot language for the measure says that the tax as proposed is estimated to provide an additional $3.6 million for the city annually.
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