Council vacancies
Monte Sereno City Council is looking to fill its vacant vice mayor’s chair.
Councilmember Bryan Mekechuk told this news organization that Vice Mayor Javed Ellahie and Councilmember Evert Wolsheimer resigned from the council earlier this year due to health reasons. The council appointed Lon Allen to take over Wolsheimer’s seat.
Mekechuk said the council will consider appointing someone to vice mayor at its Aug. 19 meeting, but they would need to open up nominations to do so. He added that vacancies rarely happen. “This is exceedingly unusual,” he said.
Mekechuk said the council chose to fill the seats by appointment rather than host a special election due to the cost, which was estimated at $15,000 to $20,000.
“Monte Sereno is kind of frugal,” Mekechuk said. “So why have an election when only a few people apply?”
When there were two vacancies on the city council last year, Mekechuk and Councilmember Lisa Shannon ran unopposed, leading the council to appoint them to their seats rather than hold an election.
Citizen of the Year
The Monte Sereno City Council named Carl Guardino its Citizen of the Year on Aug. 5.
The award is intended to spur community engagement in Monte Sereno and honor an outstanding citizen. Allison Zeider, Evert Wolsheimer and Vik Ghai were the other nominees.
Guardino served on the California Transportation Commission for four four-year terms. According to the nomination form completed by Jo-Anne Sinclair, Guardino helped push for several successful ballot measures regarding transportation and housing. He also founded the San Jose Turkey Trot, also known as the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, which was deemed the largest Thanksgiving Day run in 2024. Guardino also coined the Stars and Strides run, which contributed over $1 million to Valley Health Foundation. He previously served as vice president of government affairs at Tarana Wireless and as the CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Sinclair, Councilmember Bryan Mekechuk’s wife, spoke in support of Guardino at the Aug. 5 council meeting, saying, “Citizen of the Year is someone who not only talks about making a difference but lives it every day, and Carl invests his time and energy into making our community a better place through his ongoing volunteering, which he does a tremendous amount of.”
Former mayor Don Perry spoke highly of Guardino’s efforts to help make sure a sidewalk along Highway 9 was built for pedestrians and bicyclists while he was a Caltrans commissioner.
Billy Martin, a former fifth-grade teacher at Daves Avenue Elementary School, also praised Guardino, saying that he was involved and supportive at the school when his children were students there.
Guardino will be honored at the Monte Sereno Annual Picnic on Aug. 24.
Whole Foods construction
Construction is beginning on a new Whole Foods at the corner of Los Gatos Boulevard and Los Gatos Almaden Road, according to an Instagram post by Los Gatos Vice Mayor Rob Moore.
The new store is expected to be twice the size of the current one on Los Gatos Boulevard. Commuters should expect lane closures and traffic impacts over the next six months for infrastructure improvements, which include new sidewalks and planting strips and an upgrade to the existing VTA bus stop.