Menlo Park candidate raises $14,000 for fall campaign

A Grammy-nominated musician, Charlotte Reed, has raised more than $14,000 in her quest to replace Betsy Nash on the Menlo Park City Council.

The only other candidate so far for the District 4 race is Laura Melahn, who hasn’t submitted a fundraising report.

Reed’s report lists 45 donors, but only 14 of them live in Menlo Park. Because Reed didn’t list the donor’s addresses, it wasn’t known how many of the 13 Menlo Park donors live in the city’s District 4. District 4 includes downtown, Allied Arts and parts of central Menlo Park.

(See our spreadsheet on Reed’s donations that breaks down the donors by city.)

Of the $14,270 Reed raised, Menlo Park residents gave $10,402.

Her fundraising report said her donors included:

• Anne-Marie Strohman, an author, gave $5,900;

• Tara McGrath, former U.S. Attorney for Southern California, who was nominated by President Biden and dismissed by the Trump administration in early 2025, $50;

• John McKenna, Menlo Park, senior managing director of the commercial real estate firm Newmark, $50;

• John Pimentel, Menlo Park, “wind developer,” Foundation Windpower and a San Mateo County Community College trustee, $250;

• Matthew Rascoff, Menlo Park, Stanford vice president, $50;

• Jan Reed, Menlo Park, CEO of Silicon Valley Finance Group, $983;

• Sam Sinnott, Menlo Park, architect and contractor, $100;

• Catherine C. Behroozi of Menlo Park, a planning commissioner, $250;

• Barbara Coll of Menlo Park, $1,000;

• Sergio Lopez, Campbell mayor, $100;

All of Reed’s contributions came in through the ActBlue site that Democratic-leaning candidates use for fundraising.

She listed her treasurer as La Mesa resident Max Coston of the firm Sunrise Political, which provides financial services for candidates.

Reed’s ActBlue pitch says her campaign “will bring our city back together to tackle the hardest issues facing us now and in the future. This campaign will lift our community’s voice to the powers that be to make sure we always have the final say.”

Reed, 31, has been nominated for Grammys twice — in 2020 and 2025 — for Best Choral Performance as an ensemble musician. She also is a cantor at St. Raymond Catholic Church in Menlo Park and performs with the Peninsula Cantare and the San Francisco Bach Choir choral ensembles.

Candidates so far

The city is divided into five council districts. This fall, seats in three of the districts (1, 2 and 4) will be up for grabs.

District 1: Two-term incumbent Cecilia Taylor isn’t running again. So far only one candidate, Parks and Recreation Commission member Wonman Lee, is running to replace her for the district that includes Belle Haven.

District 2: Incumbent Drew Combs is seeking reelection and will be challenged by Vamsi Velagapudi. District 2 includes the Willows and Suburban Park neighborhoods.

District 4: As the story above explains, Charlotte Reed and Laura Melahn have decided to run for the seat that has be held by Betsy Nash. District 4 includes Allied Arts and Downtown and central Menlo Park.