Regarding the issue of "polarized voting" raised by Mr. Kadvany, who seems to think more data is needed, I have a suggestion. Let's look at council voting not in racial/ethnic terms, but geographically. This data should be easily derived from public records. All we need to do is look at the registered voting addresses of current and past city council members. For example, how many of these lived on the Bay side of 101? I think the answer to that is "zero". How many even lived on the Bay side of Middlefield Road? Or even El Camino? I think it can be easily demonstrated that there is a major disparity in neighborhood representation on the council. This in itself should be a sufficient cause to enact district elections, without delaying for further research into detailed ethnic voting patterns. It almost seems as if Mr. Kadvany is primarily concerned with maintaining the status quo.

Mark - As I understand it, the California Voting Rights Act can’t be used with geography alone.
For ‘data’ and MP, I think that being in violation of the CA / Federal Voting Rights Act is a serious charge. So its basis should be clear. And the CVRA is all about the data - there’s a whole statistical approach which is more or less standardized, like in an EIR, but we’re missing. It’s about precinct-level demographics and voting outcomes over time. This is how the law is supposed to work.
On ‘status quo’, no, I think districts can be made to work fine in Menlo Park. It’s a good means of ensuring a Belle Haven council seat. But I don’t need the CA Voting Rights Act for that. I agree with the end but not the means, especially when MP has its districting options limited and put on such a forced and quick timetable.

The data you're looking for is available on the San Mateo County Elections site: Web Link

It shows that Cecilia Taylor finished first in all 5 Belle Haven precincts (precinct map is here: Web Link

Finish for Belle Haven in 2016 was Taylor (54.53%), Carlton (24.55%), Mueller (20.92%)

Here's the data for each of the five Belle Haven precincts in a spreadsheet: Web Link

Nick - Thanks for the links. As I wrote in the piece, one election doesn’t constitute polarized voting. Since there have been few Belle Haven candidates, election results in addition to council races would be pulled in. It’s not a big deal as I understand it but an experienced demographer does the analysis.
In any case, a change in the law would be for other cities in the future to create their voting profile and make it public. MP could have done that in the past but now it’s too late. It would also be way better to convert to district voting outside of the CVRA, the options are incomplete and the timeline is rushed.

In 2014, Keith lead the pack in Belle Haven by 4 points. Combs (who is black) came in 4th place in Belle Haven.

In 2002, Jellins (who is black) lead the pack in Belle Haven, with Duboc less than 1 point behind.

In 1998, Valencia lead the pack in Belle Haven by 8 points. Jellins (who is black) came in 2nd place in Belle Haven.

In 1994, Valencia (then Nevin) was elected over E. Gary Smith (who is black), "Bernie Nevin would maintain her narrow victory over E. Gary Smith for the third open seat on the Menlo Park City Council. Nevin had emerged from last Tuesday's election with a precarious two-vote lead over Smith." Web Link

2014,Keith,Ohtaki,Fergusson,Combs,Duriseti,Cline,,
4403,129,94,75,76,80,84,,
4404,172,136,146,144,123,114,,
4436,4,4,5,6,4,3,,
,305,234,226,226,207,201,,
,21.80%,16.73%,16.15%,16.15%,14.80%,14.37%,,

2002,Jellins,Duboc,Winkler,Kinney,Stein,Halleck,Meyer,Speer
4403,96,93,62,35,40,31,28,32
4404,91,102,72,49,41,34,31,28
4405,108,92,64,29,27,27,25,20
,295,287,198,113,108,92,84,80
,23.47%,22.83%,15.75%,8.99%,8.59%,7.32%,6.68%,6.36%

1998,Valencia,Jellins,Schmidt,Borak,Stein,Burmeister,,
4403,124,79,71,50,46,37,,
4404,110,89,86,61,64,28,,
4405,109,76,54,60,47,21,,
,343,244,211,171,157,86,,
,28.30%,20.13%,17.41%,14.11%,12.95%,7.10%,,

Outcomes for the 1994 election.

Precincts 4403-4405 are in Belle Haven. Here's the list of candidates and how many votes each got in the three Belle Haven precincts.

-As I recall, Lyn Monroe, from the Willows was also African-American.
-Bernie Valencia was then Bernie Nevin.
-Another fact, not present here, but in the complete 1994 data I possess is the extreme low turnout rates in Belle Haven. Turnout has not been discussed in the context of this issue.

For the record I agree with John that the allegation of bias is unproven. I'm not saying it can't be proven, only that it hasn't been, and cherry picking select historical elections is the not proper way to make a valid historical determination.

Total 4403, 4404, 4405
Kim Rubin 4026, 30, 30, 26
EGary Smith 4513, 65, 75, 64
Steve Schmidt 4646, 26, 27, 35
Bob Burmeister 5246, 39, 61, 67
Bernie Nevin 4631, 38, 46, 54
Lyn Monroe 4584, 98, 116, 106
Nitza Derfner 693, 12, 16, 17
Kay Parr 1499, 42, 37, 30