Nine votes separates incumbent Menlo Park Councilman Drew Combs and challenger Vamsi Velagapudi in the council race for District 2, which includes the Willows, Flood Triangle and Lorelei Manor neighborhoods.
On Election Night, Combs was ahead by 16 votes, 565 to 549.
But by Wednesday morning the lead had changed and Velagapudi was leading Combs, 721 to 712.
The lead could change again as more votes are counted.
California law doesn’t have an automatic recount provision. However, any registered voter — including a candidate — can request a recount between the 31st day and 36th day after an election. The voter would have to pay for the recount. The cost for recounting votes in District 2 wasn’t immediately known.
The District 2 race was the closest of the three Menlo Park council contests. In District 1, which is in the eastern part of town, Wonman Lee leads James Rohr, 510 to 175. In District 4, which covers downtown and central Menlo Park, as well as the Allied Arts Guild area, Laura Melahn leads Charlotte Reed, 968 to 552.
Combs, 49, who works for Meta, is running for a third term. In the past eight years, Combs has been the sole dissenting vote on council decisions.
Velagapudi, 47, grew up in London and moved to Menlo Park eight years ago, and has lived in District 2 for about a year. He retired early after working at companies like Google, Cisco and HP.
“I think I’m running against somebody who I don’t think appropriately participates in a constructive way to get there, which is part of the reason why I want to run,” Velagapudi said.
Combs said he offers a different perspective during council discussions than the other four council members. For instance, he differed about whether subsidized housing should be built on downtown parking lots.
“I said I support housing downtown, but maybe let’s start with one parking lot, that way we’re persevering most of the parking that go around, and then we can go through this process in a way that brings the businesses and brings the residents along,” Combs said.
Combs was also the first council member to come out against the 80 Willow project, which is a proposed development that includes an up to 39-story building on the former Sunset Magazine campus.
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