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Election 2012: Extended deadline for Las Lomitas; no contest in Menlo Park district

by Renee Batti

The period for filing candidate papers in the race for a seat on the Las Lomitas School District board has been extended until Wednesday, Aug. 15, because the two incumbents are not seeking re-election.

But with both incumbents in the Menlo Park City School District board race running, the filing period closed Aug. 10 for that race for two board seats — and because no one else filed papers, there will be no contest in that race. Maria Hilton and Jeff Child will retain their seats for another four-year term.

Las Lomitas board President Maria Doktorczyk and member John Macdonald will step down when their terms end this year, Ms. Doktorczyk told the Almanac.

As of the Almanac's press time on Monday, there is only one candidate for the two open seats in the Las Lomitas race: Retired attorney Bill Steinmetz of Ladera filed his papers last week.

Mr. Steinmetz is the father of three daughters; two will be at La Entrada Middle School, and one will be a first-grader at Las Lomitas School this year.

He told the Almanac that he chose to run for a seat on the board after being asked to do so by a number of people, and deciding that "I do have things I can bring to the table."

Those things include his experience as an attorney, which involved work in mediation and arbitration.

Also, before his law career, Mr. Steinmetz was a civil engineer who managed construction projects and dealt with employee unions. With the district poised to tackle facilities issues, primarily because of a burgeoning enrollment, his experience as an on-site field engineer will allow him to contribute a valuable perspective to the board's decision-making process, he said.