It's always good to have a choice. So congratulations on your candidacy. However, I can't help by feel that you're doing this as a lark. Your statement has me wondering if you've taken time to read/study/understand the Woodside General Plan, the Residential Design Guidelines and the Woodside Municipal Code. (As an aside, for most of the time that your wife's and my terms on the ASRB overlapped, I often wondered the same about her.) If so, I am a bit confused in your characterization of your opponent as pursuing an "invidious agenda". Nancy's and my tenure on the board also overlapped, and I never once felt that she went beyond what the WMC requires of Board members. Instead, she always formed opinions based on criteria specified by the GP, RDG and WMC.

I understand the populist appeal to "property rights"--but find it misplaced, considering that it was your neighbors who wrote the General Plan and it was your Council that approved it. The WMC was then written to conform to the GP, as required by California law. If you truly understood the process, you wouldn't be denigrating your opponent for responsibly doing the job required of her by the WMC, but would be challenging the GP and offering improvements to it.

I congratulate Mr. Shaw on his candidacy. I thank him for giving us a choice to protect our property rights and for presenting the opportunity to end the dictatorship of a group in Woodside who think they are the most qualified, and most versed about the Woodside General Plan, the Residential Guidelines, and the Municipal Code. I hope the majority of voters make the right choice and elect the right candidate who will serve the interests of Woodside residents, protect our property rights, and end the dictatorship of groups who think they are the best qualified to govern our Town and the most intelligent to read/study/understand the Town documents.

What an awful state of affairs that the Almanac would publish such a nasty "candidate statement" from Chris Shaw. His only qualification is based on hating the other candidate.