--Bill D'Agostino
Dan Lorimer and Joe Durand
When it came to traffic-calming in Downtown North, neighbors Dan Lorimer and Joe Durand stood squarely on opposite sides of the road blocks.
Lorimer, a real-estate agent, was president of the Downtown North Neighborhood Association, which advocated for the installation of seven street barriers to reduce the amount of traffic zipping through the neighborhood.
Durand, president of a computer-networking firm, formed a group called Unblock Downtown North to oppose the barriers, which the city put in place in June 2003.
For 10 months, the two men and their sympathizers went head-to-head in one of the most contentious neighborhood disputes in years. They organized petition drives, posted signs, wrote letters to the newspapers, and lobbied city officials.
Lorimer called his opponents "irresponsible" for not voicing their opinions earlier in the planning process, which started in earnest in 1999.
Durand called his opponents' solution to traffic calming "extreme" and "polarizing."
The two sides fought round after round at city meetings. Finally, in March of this year, the City Council stunned the community by deciding in favor of removing all but one road closure.
The irony of it all? In June 2003, Durand had been nominated to run against Lorimer for leadership of the neighborhood association. He lost that battle 29-50, but in the end, he won the traffic-barrier war. Jocelyn Dong
Emily Renzel and Glenn Roberts
Former City Councilwoman Emily Renzel and Director of Public Works Glenn Roberts both value the Baylands -- for completely different reasons.
Roberts envisions building a 19-acre garbage and recycling facility -- dubbed the Environmental Services Center -- atop the city's current landfill after it closes in 2011. The center, Roberts said, would make Palo Alto a regional leader in sustainability and environmental justice.
Renzel, who has a 150-acre Baylands marsh named after her, is determined to see the land turned into a park. It was, after all, slated for that purpose almost four decades ago, she said.
As part of the skirmish this year, Renzel charged Roberts with using a "back-door process" to sneak the project through the city's approval process. She pushed for a review of the proposal, which City Auditor Sharon Erickson completed in November.
Then came the rub: Both Renzel and Roberts claimed Erickson's numbers supported their respective causes. Renzel trumpeted that the report showed the facility would cost the city $1.6 million a year to operate - rather than saving the city $1 million a year as Roberts had previously alleged.
But Roberts fired back that the additional million would stay within the city, a winning scenario in cash-strapped times.
The issue is now in the hands of the City Council, which is expected to make its decision in January. Jocelyn Dong
Aram James and Lynne Johnson
Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson spent much of the year on the defensive against alleged actions by her officers. Often, it was former public defender Aram James -- a self-appointed police watchdog -- mounting the attack..
"We need to start asking some really hard questions about our police department," James said at one public meeting.
During a preliminary hearing to determine whether two Palo Alto officers should go to trial for allegedly beating a black resident, James was in the courtroom, acting as attorney for Scott Cowger, the district attorney's star witness.
Cowger testified that the alleged victim, Albert Hopkins, did not put up a fight as the two officers beat him with batons and fired pepper spray into his face. His testimony was seen as a main reason the officers will face trial next month.
Around the same time, James conducted his own elaborative investigation after another Palo Alto officer ticketed his fiancee's son, Jameel Douglas, for riding a skateboard without a helmet.
James alleged the officer racially profiled Jameel and used excessive force when he lifted the boy into the air and shook him. But the district attorney saw the officer as looking out for the boy's safety and cleared the officer. The family filed a claim against the city and will likely sue.
In both cases, Johnson said race wasn't a factor. But James, who is white, disagreed and called for heavier police oversight. He also questioned Johnson's consideration of stun guns, asked for a strict policy on the department's use of video cameras in patrol cars, and filed numerous public records requests.
Johnson occasionally showed irritation at James' critical words, but nonetheless continued her behind-the-scenes work to smooth police-community tensions.
--Bill D'Agostino
Ira Ruskin and Steve Poizner
For a few weeks in the fall, Palo Altans couldn't open their mailboxes without seeing a gaggle of fliers from Democrat Ira Ruskin and Republican Steve Poizner. The two state Assembly candidates spent a staggering $9 million in the race.
Two-thirds of that sum came from Poizner, a moderate who tried to ride Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity to Sacramento. Ruskin, a well-respected councilman in Redwood City who often seemed stilted in debates next to the fiery Poizner, criticized his opponent for donating money to President George W. Bush, hoping to stoke partisan fires.
Due to a delay in counting late votes, the dramatic race's ending was extended for nearly two weeks. Poizner, a former CEO of SnapTrack and a White House Fellow who garnered most of the district's newspaper endorsements, finally conceded, having come within a few thousand votes of victory. The same day, Ruskin alleged: "The voters voted for me because they believe I am independent."
But liberal Palo Altans said it was opposite -- they liked Ruskin because he was a loyal Democrat in a year when the rest of the nation swung to the right.
--Bill D'Agostino
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