January 07, 2004

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

A new dance?

by Bill D'Agostino

In a striking difference from last year's rough-and-tumble affair, the tone of the Palo Alto City Council's first meeting of 2004 was gracious, hopeful, celebratory and, in the end, soulful.

"It was a very positive start to the year," former Mayor Gary Fazzino said.

First, council members swiftly and unanimously elected Bern Beecham to be 2004's mayor and Jim Burch to be this year's vice mayor. Later, at the prompting of newly sworn-in first-term Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell, some danced.

"My first campaign promise was that, in the unlikely event that I were elected to the City Council, I would soul line-dance in City Hall," Cordell explained during the meeting, before inviting the assembled citizens and dignitaries to join in.

At least two other council members -- Judy Kleinberg and Hillary Freeman -- accepted the invite, clapping and swaying to the soulful music. At Stanford University, where Cordell works at vice provost, she teaches a soul line-dance class.

Also during the meeting, Beecham announced that state Sen. Byron Sher introduced legislation that day to hopefully solve Cordell's conflict-of-interest quandary.

Shortly after the November election, attorneys for Stanford and the city realized that a state law effectively prevented the two entities from negotiating contracts with each other if Cordell took office.

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs it, Sher's proposed change -- Senate Bill 1086 -- would allow Stanford to be exempt from the law, like other nonprofits and universities.

"We are hopeful at this point," Beecham said.

That type of positive sentiment was hard to find at last year's first council meeting, when Dena Mossar was elected mayor only after Councilwoman Nancy Lytle attacked her ethics and leadership abilities. The meeting quickly came to symbolize the council's entire year, marked with constant controversy and steady squabbling.

"If we have dancing, and not fighting, I'm happy," Beecham said, smiling during the post-meeting reception that quickly turned into a small dance party, complete with slices of cake for those in attendance.

Even Lytle, who was defeated in her November re-election bid and received an official commendation during Monday night's meeting, was gracious throughout her public comments, praising Mossar's performance as mayor.

Lytle also encouraged citizens to get involved in local government before telling the crowd that she was "closing the revolving door very solidly behind me as I retire from public office."

Despite being a constant source of controversy during her term, Lytle received a standing ovation as she received her commendation.

Although Freeman believes the ceremonial aspect of the city's annual mayoral election should be separated from the council's voting, she kept quiet during the meeting, satisfied her concerns will be aired later in the year by a council subcommittee.

"I registered my opposition with silence," Freeman said after the meeting.

Freeman instead choose to speak only to praise and salute "the honorable Nancy Lytle," whom she believes was unfairly maligned by the press.

"Her decisions have been steadfastly in support of the residents of our great city, and never for her own purposes," Freeman said of Lytle. "Her strength to stay true to her own principles while withstanding insatiable opinion, sometimes surreptitiously cloaked as truth, was marveled by many of us."

After Beecham was elected mayor, he said 2004 would hopefully be a year for the community and the council to "move forward," build consensus, help strengthen the city's retail businesses, and unlock the logjam of the infamous Palo Alto process.

"As mayor, I will endeavor to be fair, to be open and to respect those with different opinions," Beecham added. "I will do all in my power to bring us together and to unite us."

Newly-elected Vice Mayor Jim Burch had fewer public comments, choosing to use his brief spotlight to thank Kleinberg for not challenging him for the ceremonial spot. Since both have served four years on the council, it would have been a toss-up about whose turn it was to be vice mayor.

"I really appreciate her generosity and her graciousness in allowing me to take this position," Burch said.

Since Burch is not running for re-election, 2005 would be his last chance to be mayor.

The vice mayor and mayor spots are largely ceremonial, although the mayor runs the meetings and appoints members to serve on local and regional boards and commissions.

Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.