Battle for vice mayor brewing? Battle for vice mayor brewing? (December 05, 2003)

Two council members could vie for largely ceremonial post

by Bill D'Agostino

In spite of the council's promise to play nicely, political jockeying continues -- this time over the seemingly routine council election of vice mayor.

It appears as though the stage is set for a wrangling between Councilman Jim Burch and Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg over the vice mayor seat, traditionally a ceremonial election by fellow council members that positions that person for a future mayoral seat. The City Council elects a new mayor and vice mayor annually in January.

Current Vice Mayor Bern Beecham is widely expected to be appointed mayor without a challenge. But who will serve as vice mayor is much less certain.

Kleinberg and Burch have served four years on the council. Kleinberg won re-election last month, while Burch, who was initially elected to a two-year seat in 1999, won re-election in 2001.

Burch, refuting a report in the Palo Alto Daily News, said he was interested in the vice mayor next year, and the mayor's seat in 2005. He pointed out that he is not planning to run for re-election when his term expires in 2005, so the next two years are only chance to serve in those posts. Kleinberg, he pointed out, has two additional years.

"For me, it's now or never," Burch said.

"I have no doubt that Jim would make a wonderful mayor -- but so would I," retorted Kleinberg, who is rumored to be considering higher office.

After hearing of Burch's lobbying, Kleinberg said she wasn't sure if she would also vie for vice mayor, although she added "an awful lot of people" have called telling her they want her in that position.

The positions of mayor and vice mayor are largely ceremonial. The mayor runs meetings, and appoints council members to serve on various city and regional committees. The vice mayor fills in when the mayor is out of town or has a conflict-of-interest. The posts typically rotate among the most senior members.

In an e-mail to 25 Kleinberg supporters, sent on Nov. 30, former Mayor Gary Fazzino wrote, "Judy should be Vice Mayor in 2004, and Mayor in 2005."

Fazzino asked the supporters to call other council members and let them know that Kleinberg "deserves a leadership role now" because she was "one of the strongest council leaders" and the top vote-getter in both the 1999 and 2003 City Council elections.

"No one currently serving on the council is better equipped than Judy to help move the council and the city beyond the last two difficult years," Fazzino wrote.

On the other side, Mayor Dena Mossar supports Burch for vice mayor. During Mossar's recently successful re-election campaign, Burch served as her campaign's "honorary co-chair."

"Jim is just a wonderful person and generally loves what he does as a council member," Mossar said. "He appreciates the community and has really outstanding community values."

Kleinberg, an attorney, said she planned to call Burch, a trustee with the Foundation for Global Community, to discuss the situation. "I'm sure this can be worked out very collegially," she said. "That's the way we do it here."

In the past two years, elections for mayor and vice mayor have been uncharacteristically tense. In 2002, Beecham and Mossar competed for the vice mayor post during that year's first meeting, although Beecham backed off when it appeared Mossar had the votes to win. And this year, an uncomfortable evening erupted when Councilwoman Nancy Lytle surprised the gathered crowd by attacking Mossar's ethics, without nominating another council member to be mayor.

Councilman Vic Ojakian would not say whom he wanted to be vice mayor next year, but noted he was interested in someone "who understands that though they might get some personal worth out of serving, they're doing it for the betterment of the community."

Term limits -- which took effect for the first time with council members elected in 1992 -- were at least partially to blame for the fact that the election of mayor and vice mayor have gotten more contentious in recent years, compared to earlier eras, Ojakian hypothesized.

"Maybe it's time that we look at changes in the Charter to have the mayor elected" by the voters, he said. "If we've got to sit around and have a debate over this -- and that seems to be happening more and more -- then, damn it, this isn't the right process."

E-mail Bill D'Agostino at bdagostino@paweekly.com

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