Update, Monday, Nov. 9 — Vamsi Velagapudi has taken a 94-vote lead in the Menlo Park City Council race for District 2 against incumbent Drew Combs, as of Monday, Nov. 9. The vote stands at 994 (52.5%) for Velagapudi and 900 (47.5%) for Combs.
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 race for District 2 — which includes the Willows, Flood Triangle and Lorelei Manor neighborhoods — was the closest of the three Menlo Park council contests.
In District 1, which is in the eastern part of town, Wonman Lee has defeated James Rohr, 607 to 219. In District 4, which covers downtown and central Menlo Park, as well as the Allied Arts Guild area, Laura Melahn defeated Charlotte Reed, 1,199 (61.5%) to 749 (38.5%).
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.
Velagapudi is up by almost 100 votes as of Friday and his lead increases every new count release. Bye Drew.