Review note: Laura Melahn's own campaign site (lauramelahn.com): a single-page site with her full bio (Princeton, Oxford, Google/GV, Meadow Valley Partners), her published downtown-housing plan (critical of the current parking-lot plan's zero permits against a promised 345-plus affordable units by 2027, without opposing housing broadly), her Finance and Audit Commission chairmanship, the Downtown Menlo Fund/Fourth Fridays record, and endorsements (former Menlo Park mayors Steve Schmidt and Paul Collacchi, Menlo Park Fire Protection District board vice president Rob Silano); footer publishes FPPC ID 1491445 and Charlotte Reed's own campaign site (charlotteformenlopark.com): her 'Meet Charlotte' bio (Junior League service, District 4's commercial-core description, the city's 2022 transition to district elections), 'Issues' platform page (a Downtown Commission, public-private partnerships, weekly office hours), and endorsements page; footer publishes FPPC ID 1489179 may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.
- smcacre.gov (opens in a new tab)San Mateo County ACRE -- Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only, November 3, 2026 General Election (CFMR009), dated 2026-08-25: the county's own certified candidate list, naming all six qualified Menlo Park City Council candidates (Districts 1, 2, and 4), their filed occupations/ballot designations, and qualification dates, each flagged 'On Ballot: Yes, Vote for 1'
- smcacre.gov (opens in a new tab)San Mateo County ACRE -- this dataset's own transcribed summary of the same CFMR009 roster's contest headers, confirming exactly three Menlo Park races are flagged 'On Ballot: Yes' this cycle (City Council Districts 1, 2, and 4) and none else
- almanacnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Almanac (Arden Margulis) -- "Council races at a glance: Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside" (July 23, 2026; updated July 24): staff-bylined roundup naming all three Menlo Park districts up this cycle, each district's boundary description, that Districts 1 and 4 are open seats (incumbents Cecilia Taylor and Mayor Betsy Nash each not seeking reelection) while Councilmember Drew Combs seeks reelection in District 2, and that Menlo Park council elections have no primary
- en.wikipedia.org (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia's Menlo Park, California article -- confirms the City Council is 'elected in districts to staggered four-year terms, in nonpartisan municipal elections,' that the Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen from among council members rather than separately elected (one-year terms since 1976), and the city's 2020 census population of 33,780
- cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)This dataset's own documented record of a dedicated, unsuccessful attempt to retrieve campaign-finance filings for all six Menlo Park City Council candidates: California's Cal-Access filer search (cal-access.sos.ca.gov) returned only an Incapsula bot-detection interstitial for every query attempted this session (via both WebFetch and direct curl), with no live browser session available in this worktree to work around it. Documents the absence of a reachable financial-disclosure source for these six candidates, not any of their actual finances.
- almanacnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Almanac (Arden Margulis) -- "First candidate for Menlo Park City Council race wants to unite city, build affordable housing" (March 19, 2026): dedicated, exclusive-interview profile of Charlotte Reed -- her career at Klaviyo, her Grammy-nominated singing/cantor work, her support for the downtown parking-lot housing plan and her stated concerns about the city's housing-element compliance if Measure P passes
- almanacnews.com (opens in a new tab)The Almanac (Arden Margulis) -- "Downtown vibrancy advocate joins race for Menlo Park City Council" (May 18, 2026): dedicated, quote-based profile of Laura Melahn -- her career in venture capital, her co-founding of the Downtown Menlo Fund, her Finance and Audit Commission service, her declining as of this article to take a position on the downtown parking-lot housing initiative, and her support for housing at the SRI International campus
- charlotteformenlopark.com (opens in a new tab)Charlotte Reed's own campaign site (charlotteformenlopark.com): her 'Meet Charlotte' bio (Junior League service, District 4's commercial-core description, the city's 2022 transition to district elections), 'Issues' platform page (a Downtown Commission, public-private partnerships, weekly office hours), and endorsements page; footer publishes FPPC ID 1489179
- lauramelahn.com (opens in a new tab)Laura Melahn's own campaign site (lauramelahn.com): a single-page site with her full bio (Princeton, Oxford, Google/GV, Meadow Valley Partners), her published downtown-housing plan (critical of the current parking-lot plan's zero permits against a promised 345-plus affordable units by 2027, without opposing housing broadly), her Finance and Audit Commission chairmanship, the Downtown Menlo Fund/Fourth Fridays record, and endorsements (former Menlo Park mayors Steve Schmidt and Paul Collacchi, Menlo Park Fire Protection District board vice president Rob Silano); footer publishes FPPC ID 1491445
Last updated September 1, 2026.
City of Menlo Park
Menlo Park City Council, District 4
This person would represent one of Menlo Park's five council districts on the City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land-use decisions for Menlo Park. The term is four years. The Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen by the council from among its own members each year, rather than elected separately.
Mayor Betsy Nash is not seeking reelection after two terms representing District 4. Charlotte Reed, a communications professional and singer, is running to replace her. Laura Melahn co-founded the Downtown Menlo Fund. She chairs the Finance and Audit Commission and is also running.
The winner serves a 4-year term as one of five district representatives on Menlo Park's City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use for the whole city. The Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen by the council from among its own members each year, not elected separately, and Menlo Park council races have no primary -- Reed and Melahn go straight to the November 3 ballot.
Both campaigns are shaped by the fight over a roughly 300-unit affordable-housing plan for city-owned downtown parking lots -- and by Measure P, a November ballot initiative backed by downtown businesses and property owners that would require voter approval before the city can develop those lots. Reed supports the city's plan and warns that if Measure P passes, Menlo Park risks falling out of compliance with its state-mandated housing element. Melahn has published a detailed alternative that doesn't oppose housing broadly but argues the current plan is failing on its own terms -- zero building permits despite a promise of 345-plus affordable units by 2027 -- and says her approach works whichever way the Measure P vote goes.
Charlotte Reed
Charlotte Reed, 31, works in communications for the marketing platform Klaviyo. She is also a two-time Grammy-nominated singer and a cantor at a Menlo Park church. She moved to Menlo Park from Connecticut two years ago. She entered the race after a divisive January 2025 meeting on downtown housing.
Laura Melahn
Laura Melahn, 41, studied molecular biology at Princeton and did research at Oxford. She later worked at Google and GV and now leads Meadow Valley Partners. In February 2025 she co-founded the Downtown Menlo Fund, which runs the Fourth Fridays events. She has chaired the city's Finance and Audit Commission since May 2025.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.