Politics & Government

Council Incumbents Handily Defeat Challenger

Incumbents Aguirre, Pierce, Bain and Foust remain in their seats on the city council.

By a , the four city council incumbents edged out challenger to retain their seats on the city council.

Aguirre received the most votes by collecting the support of 4,048 residents, while the 3,831 votes in favor of Pierce made her the second most popular candidate and Bain edged out Foust by 61 votes to become the third leading vote getter.

The four incumbents will each serve another four year term, where they will make difficult decisions regarding the , the , , and how to provide more housing.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This is Pierce’s last term, since the city has a four-term limit on city councilmembers. This is Bain’s and Foust’s third term and Aguirre’s second full term.

Listen to how Alicia Aguirre, Ian Bain, Rosanne Foust, and Barbara Pierce envision the city in four years.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

McCarthy was not immediately available for a comment.

Some may attribute McCarthy’s shortcoming to his lack of a traditional campaign, with Mayor Jeff Ira

Resident Catherine Fraser said in a comment , “What I don't like about Mr. McCarthy is the fact that he's not running a campaign.”

While the incumbents spent an average of  $13,172 on their campaign, McCarthy spent $54 on business cards. He also held a event on Oct. 28.

He said by accepting campaign donations from anyone, businesses, unions or even friends, there would be an inherent debt to that person that could affect his objectivity. McCarthy also said that any lawn signs would just end up in a land fill, contributing more waste.

“I think he ran a great, clean campaign, and I have a lot of respect for him,” Bain said. “I really appreciate him putting his hat in the ring.”

But McCarthy and the incumbents all invested a great amount of time as well. They attended multiple candidates’ forums, filled out endorsement forms, met with community members, and had a great online and social media presence. The incumbents also put out mailers and calls reminding residents to vote.

“It isn’t easy,” Foust said. “But you put yourself out there when you want something and you work hard.”

A formal induction of the city councilmembers will take place on Dec. 5, when the city clerk will hold an election amongst the seven candidates to select the new mayor.


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