City Council

The City Council is the city's governing body. In general municipal elections, its members are elected by district to four-year overlapping terms. The Mayor and Vice Mayor each serve one-year terms and are selected annually by the City Council at its first regular meeting in December.

The Mayor, who represents the City of Menlo Park at ceremonial and public functions, also serves as the presiding officer of the City Council.

Below the City Councilmembers are listed in the typical order of mayoral rotation.

Ray Mueller

 City Councilmember

  • Telephone650-776-8995
  • Email rdmueller@menlopark.org
  • ProfileRay Mueller was elected at-large in 2012 and 2016. In 2020, he was elected to represent District 5.

Current vacancy

We currently have a vacancy for the District 5 City Council seat. Interested applicants should submit the online application form by 5 p.m., Dec. 20, 2022.

Eligibility

The requirements (and length of terms) can vary, but in general all applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • A registered voter and live in District 5
  • Over 18 years of age
  • Committed to attending scheduled meetings

Application

Applications can be submitted through completing the online application form or requesting a paper application.

Application (English) Solicitud (español)

Interview process

The City Council will interview applicants and make an appointment at a special meeting scheduled for Dec. 21, 2022, at 6 p.m., via Zoom and at the City Council Chambers, 751 Laurel St.

Contact the City Council

To express your comments and opinions about a topic, you can contact the entire City Council (and senior staff).

Please note: All communications to the City Council and/or city staff are public records subject to the California Public Records Act. Emails sent to this address are provided to the local media and are posted on the city's website for public viewing. The email address of the sender is not disclosed on the website for security purposes. However, information contained in the body of the email, including personal contact information, can be viewed and retrieved through a search. Each City Council member also directly receives email sent to this address.

This feature is designed to allow public viewing of emails sent to the entire City Council. The process by which emails sent to the City Council are posted on this site is automated. Sometimes formatting within the body of the email is lost during this automated process, making messages harder to read. Typically, formatting is easier to preserve if formatted materials are sent as attachments rather than in the body of the email. However some viewers of this City Council email site may have difficulty opening attachments.

It is the city's practice to remove SPAM (unsolicited bulk email) from the City Council email log. If you believe your email has been removed in error, please contact the City Manager's Office.

You can view the City Council email log online.

City Council districts

You can view the City’s current city council districts and look up your city council representative using our interactive map.

City-Council-District-Lookup-Map.jpg

Council-Manager form of government

Learn about the council-manager form of government

Take our brief text message course to learn about the City of Menlo Park’s council-manager form of government and the role of City Council.

The video below highlights the value that professional local government management brings to our communities. For more information, visit the International City/County Management Association website.

Meetings, agendas, minutes and videos

Meetings are generally held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month and start at 6 p.m. with special meetings scheduled as needed. All meetings currently held virtually (online). The City Council meeting schedule(PDF, 104KB)  is published in January each year.

Participate in meetings

Join meetings using the link on the published agenda and the citywide calendar.

Agendas, minutes and videos

The city website provides meeting agendas, minutes and videos for public review. For regular meetings, agendas will be posted no later than 72 hours in advance; agendas for special meetings will be posted no later than 24 hours in advance. Meeting minutes are available following approval. Videos are typically posted within 24 hours after the meeting.

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