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Jim McLaughlin, a member of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District board, has withdrawn his bid for reelection this November, extending the deadline to pull papers and file for candidacy to Wednesday, Aug. 17.
McLaughlin, who joined the board in 2018, cited personal reasons for backing out of the race, saying that he did not feel he had the time and energy to properly dedicate himself to another term and be fully engaged.
“My time has been very rewarding. I feel we’ve accomplished a great deal over the last four years,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said looks back with pride on accomplishments made during his tenure on the board of directors, including the reopening of an expanded Fire Station 4 on Alameda de las Pulgas that serves parts of Menlo Park and Atherton.
Preliminary work also began on Station 1 on Middlefield Road, which the board seeks to redevelop. The board has also replaced all of the fire trucks and engines, paid off the district’s debt, found a new chief and now has one the lowest pension liability rates in the state, McLaughlin said.
Four candidates are currently running for the three available seats on the board, including two incumbents and two newcomers. Gary Bloom, CEO of MarkLogic and Dionis Papavramidis, a software engineer for IBM have joined incumbents Chuck Bernstein and Robert Jones in the race.