BY NORAH SHEPPARD-HUTCHINS
Daily Post Staff Writer
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Wonman Lee, who is running for Menlo Park City Council, wants to bring a shopping district and more housing to District 1.
Lee, 44, a software engineer for Course Hero and father of two is running to succeed Cecilia Taylor for the District 1 seat.
He is running against James Rohr, to represent the Belle Haven neighborhood and Bayfront area. Despite repeated attempts, the Post was unable to reach Rohr.
Developers Signature Development Group and Peninsula Innovation Partners, on behalf of Meta, planned a mixed-use development called Willow Village that would include 1,730 homes, retail and office space, parks and restaurants. The project was paused by Meta on May 1.
“My goal is to either restart the project by collaborating with Meta and understanding how their needs have changed over time, or in the Bayfront designate a new commercial zone to replace what Willow Village was intended to be,” Lee said.
Lee said the owner of Bohannon Office Park, just across from Highway 101, has been asking the council to allow a “multi-family village” on the site, which could be another opportunity for a new mixed-use project.
“They’ve (residents) just been asking for the basics, a grocery store, pharmacy, bank, a sit-down restaurant, you name it,” Lee said. “We don’t have that available to us, and Willow Village was that promise. That was going to be the commercial center paired with housing.”
Lee is for public housing on downtown parking lots, and said he sees a need for increased density in housing. He opposes Measure P, which would stop that development. “I think there is a culture, the NIMBY culture, of saying that, ‘We want housing, but again, not where we live.’ And I think that it’s basically not consistent.”
Lee said he wants to also deepen ties between the city and Belle Haven Elementary, which his son attends, and other schools in the Ravenswood City School District.
Lee is the son of Korean immigrants and is the first in his family to graduate college. He said public schools got him where he is today, and wants to ensure the same opportunities are available for younger generations.
Lee said he would like to create a career corner at the Belle Haven Library that would include advising, financial aid nights and application help in Spanish.
Lee also wants to use his software engineering skills to help modernize city operations, such as looking into building an everything app for Menlo Park.
“I think for a city that’s located right in Silicon Valley, we can do a much better job of providing those types of services to our residents,” Lee said. “If I want to rent a tennis court, if I want to reserve the basketball court, you shouldn’t have to go through a labyrinth of steps to actually do that.”
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