HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-01-10 City Council Summary Minutes
Regular Meeting January 10, 1994 1. Election of Mayor and Vice Mayor ....................... 72-69 2. Resolution Honoring Jean McCown as Mayor of Palo Alto for 1993 ............................................... 72-72 3. Resolution Commending the Outstanding Service of Michael (Mike) Cobb as Mayor and Council Member ........ 72-73 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ........................................ 72-76 ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m. to a reception. ................................... 72-76
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The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers at 7:10 p.m. The Addison School Choir sang a medley of songs for the City Council. Redmond O'Connell, the honorary Palo Alto town crier, cried to the assembly. City Clerk Gloria Young conducted the swearing in of City Council Members Ron Andersen, Gary Fazzino, Liz Kniss, Jean McCown, and Micki Schneider. PRESENT: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 1. Election of Mayor and Vice Mayor Council Member Fazzino was honored and excited to recommend to his colleagues that Liz Kniss be elected as Mayor for 1994. He said that an enjoyable aspects of the annual rotation of the Mayorship position was the chance to witness the individual skills and talents brought to the position. He recognized the efforts of past Mayors. He was convinced that Liz Kniss would live up to the outstanding tradition of past Mayors and would assuredly create her own special legacy as Mayor of Palo Alto. She had been committed to public service since her childhood in Cape Cod. Her early career in nursing represented her special manifestation of commitment to the surrounding community. When Liz Kniss moved to Palo Alto during the 1960s, she began her community service through the Association for a Balanced Community, the League of Women Voters, Parent Teachers Association, Senior Day Health, Senior Coordinating Council, and the Open Space District Campaign. She also served two terms on the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) School Board. She had been elected to the City Council twice given her continued strong interest in children, seniors, and everyone else. She had served with distinction as Vice Mayor and Chairperson of the Policy and Services Committee, and she had helped to build a successful Centennial celebration effort. He could not think of anyone better prepared or able to guide the City during the Centennial year. No one else had a better handle on the pulse of the community than Liz. Given her propensity for action, he was convinced that she would serve her colleagues and community well as it addressed such issues as the Organizational Review, the Economic future project, and the Comprehensive Plan. The qualities that made Liz a remarkable public servant and a special person--inclusiveness, responsiveness, community coalition builder, and problem solver--were the principles that needed to be promoted during a special year. Council Member Simitian supported the nomination of Liz Kniss for Mayor. Liz Kniss was a good colleague and had been a friend of his for 20 years. He had the distinction among the present
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Council to have served with her for six years on two different venues--the PAUSD School Board and the City Council. He underscored the characteristics mentioned by Council Member Fazzino. Liz had the ability to look beyond the materials in the packet. She did her homework in terms of trying to find out what was really happening in the community before making a decision. Liz's vote was not only a vote based on paper but also a vote based on experience and personal observation. He had observed, as an elected representative both on the School Board and the City Council, that Liz Kniss really underscored the words "elected representative." She believed her role was to listen to the community, take the community values, and make them manifest into what the Council did in terms of public policy. Her efforts to genuinely represent her community set Liz Kniss apart from others. She was aggressive and energetic about seeking out the opinions of the community. The strong responsibility about representing community values would mark her Mayorship as well. Her leadership style was inclusive because she understood that the Council made the best decision for the community when those decisions were the result of the thinking and experience of all nine Council Members. She had a strength of wisdom and generosity of spirit and was never afraid to reach out and include others as she led, and she led in a way that pulled everyone along and forged consensus. He was pleased to second Council Member Fazzino's remarks and urged his colleagues to vote for Liz Kniss for Mayor. RESULTS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING FOR MAYOR VOTING FOR KNISS: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler City Clerk Gloria Young announced that Vice Mayor Kniss received nine votes and was appointed Mayor on the first ballot. Mayor Kniss said she came from a long line of people devoted to public service. She thanked Former Mayor McCown who had been an exemplary Mayor and who had set a level of service and commitment during the past year that everyone should hope to obtain as they served as Mayor. She acknowledged City Clerk Gloria Young for her efforts that evening. It was the beginning of the City's kickoff of its Centennial. On April 16, 1994, the City would be 100 years old. There had been fifty-four individuals who served as Mayors, and she was the fifty-fifth individual to serve as Mayor and the fifth woman Mayor. Kathy Torgersen would be in charge of the big birthday celebration on April 16, 1994. She thanked her col-leagues and felt fortunate to be able to serve with them. The Council tried very hard to understand what was going on in the community and reflect what the community wanted. She thanked now deceased Sally Siegel for her encouragement to run for the PAUSD School Board and thanked Mike Cobb and Betsy Bechtel who were her honorary chairs during her two runs for the City Council. She acknowledged Arnold Soforenko, who served as her treasurer, and Susie Richardson and Carol Harrington who served on her committees. She especially thanked Mike Cobb and Joe Simitian who had been her mentors while on the PAUSD School Board and on the City Council. She also thanked her running group and her Friday
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morning coffee group, introduced her family, and acknowledged her boss from Sun Microsystems. The person elected Mayor had the special privilege and honor of making his or her own special impact on the City. She would be concerned about economics during the coming year. A Council priority for the third consecutive year was the City's economic future. Without a sound, sustainable economic base, there would be no way to maintain the desirable service levels to the community, provide assistance to East Palo Alto, and preserve the City's open space, parks, and urban forest. The City's economic success could no longer be taken for granted. The City's past economic good fortune had not been an accident, and it was the result of wise and careful planning. The City Council had made a commitment to the City's economic future and to its vitality. During the past year, the City had a challenge in its child care arena as Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC) went through a number of challenging issues. She was committed to continuing a community-based child care organization within the City's boundaries. Nothing was more important in the community than the well being of families and the good care of children. The Council would discuss the issue at length during the next six months and would be working with parents, staff, and the schools in order to find a workable child care plan for the 1990s and the 21st Century. The City Council of the 1970s had great foresight and set up the PACCC which had been successful. It was now important for the Council to understand that in the 1990s fewer families were able to conduct themselves as they did in the 1950s and 1960s. She was committed to electronic communications, and in 1994 there would be voice mail at City Hall, electronic mail interactivity, a network similar to Internet, and the ability to electronically communicate throughout the world. She would be working with the staff, the Assistant City Manager, and a group of Palo Alto citizens. Harry Saal, the head of a new group called Smart Valley, Inc., had enthusiastically agreed to work with a group in the community. Council Member Huber was pleased to support Joe Simitian for Vice Mayor for the Centennial year. He had the pleasure of campaigning with him several years ago and respected his opinions and sense of what government should be. He was a student of government and the process. He had the pleasure of sitting on the Policy and Services (P&S) Committee with Joe, who chaired the committee and did an excellent job. From his perspective, it was important to run meetings efficiently and tolerate the comments and observations of colleagues. Joe had demonstrated the kind of leadership and commitment that the City needed and deserved to serve as Vice Mayor. Council Member Wheeler said she would also cast her vote for Joe Simitian for Vice Mayor. She concurred with the comments made by Council Member Huber about the type of leadership and capabilities that Joe Simitian possessed since she also waged her first City Council campaign in Joe's company. She respected Joe's many talents and shared some earlier political events. She was certain Joe would do a fine job as Vice Mayor. It was an office he had worked hard for and deserved.
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RESULTS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF VOTING FOR VICE MAYOR VOTING FOR SIMITIAN: Andersen, Fazzino, Huber, Kniss, McCown, Rosenbaum, Schneider, Simitian, Wheeler City Clerk Gloria Young announced that Council Member Simitian received nine votes and was appointed Vice Mayor on the first ballot. Vice Mayor Simitian thanked his colleagues and appreciated their kind words. The Vice Mayor's primary job was to keep the time clock at the City Council meetings on the members of the public who wished to speak, and he vowed to run an honest clock. There was a tremendous feeling of pride when the people in the community were willing to lend their support and allow a person to serve them in local government, and the only other thing comparable to that was the support of colleagues. His colleagues had been kind enough to allow him to serve as their Vice Mayor. He thanked his colleagues for their support and their expression of confidence. He looked forward to working with his friend and colleague, Liz Kniss. 2. Resolution Honoring Jean McCown as Mayor of Palo Alto for 1993 Mayor Kniss said it had been a privilege and honor working with Former Mayor McCown during the past year. She had spent a good deal of time at City Hall and also out in the greater community of Santa Clara County, on the Congestion Management Agency (CMA), and in East Palo Alto. The inroads she had made during the past year would continue to make a remarkable difference. MOTION: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Huber, to adopt the Resolution. Resolution 7277 entitled "Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Honoring Jean McCown as Mayor of Palo Alto for 1993" MOTION PASSED 8-0-1, McCown "abstaining." Council Member McCown believed the Resolution highlighted what the major accomplishments were in the City in 1993. She had been extraordinarily honored to serve the community and to have the opportunity to make a contribution. Anyone that had the opportu-nity to become Mayor readily recognized how many people other than the Mayor deserved credit for what was accomplished and achieved in the City during the year. She acknowledged her colleagues who were an extraordinary group and their ability to work together. The strength of the group was in how evenly distributed and widespread the contributions were--people taking the lead on issues that were important which made 1993 special and would make 1994 and future years special. The community was fortunate to have that quality of people elected to serve the community. She acknowledged the four key staff people who made the Council's job easier: City Manager June Fleming, City Clerk Gloria Young, City
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Attorney Ariel Calonne, and City Auditor Bill Vinson did an excellent job. She thanked the vast staff organization below those people. She thanked her family for their support and her secretary and the receptionist at her law firm who put up with her hectic schedule. She thanked her colleagues at her law firm for their support. She had had the opportunity to serve on some regional activities during the year, and the special ones were the ones that involved their colleagues in Santa Clara County. She thanked Supervisor Dianne McKenna who had taught her everything she needed to know about transportation and air quality in Santa Clara County and provided extraordinary leadership for the community in that field. She acknowledged her compatriots in leadership positions--past Mayor and Council Member Gail Slocum from Menlo Park and Mayor Sharifa Wilson from East Palo Alto. She acknowledged the Chief of Police Bruce Cumming, Menlo Park, Chief of Police Bernie Matthews, East Palo Alto, and Chief of Police Chris Durkin, Palo Alto, who had an enormous part in making what had happened during the last year in East Palo Alto a reality. She thanked the people in the audience who represented a piece of the citizens of Palo Alto and provided some of the best resources the Council had. The community kept the Council "on its toes." The Mayor was the recipient of a wonderful array of communications, and the staff, with the City Manager's leadership, deserved the credit for doing a wonderful job of responding to those communications. The staff always tried to be responsive when the community told the Council it needed to do a better job. The Mayor's job was a visible, special link in a special line of communication the community had and was a valuable resource. She was certain Mayor Kniss was well suited to make that communication link with the community work well for everyone. Mayor Kniss presented the Resolution, the first Centennial watch, and other mementos to Former Mayor McCown. 3. Resolution Commending the Outstanding Service of Michael (Mike) Cobb as Mayor and Council Member MOTION: Council Member McCown moved, seconded by Fazzino, to adopt the Resolution. Resolution 7278 entitled "Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Commending the Outstanding Service of Michael (Mike) Cobb as Mayor and Council Member" MOTION PASSED 9-0. Steve Player, President, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, appreci-ated the job the Council did and would be doing for the City. The community was fortunate to have people who were willing to step forward and take on leadership positions and guide the City through some difficult issues. He congratulated Mayor Kniss and Vice Mayor Simitian. He congratulated Council Member Schneider who was a former board member of the Chamber. He knew she would bring the same dedication, hard work, and commitment to the City that she had brought to the Chamber and Downtown Palo Alto. He thanked Former Mayor and Council Member Cobb for his 15 years of
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service to the City and looked forward to his participation as a board member of the Chamber. The community was grateful for his remarkable commitment of time, energy, and effort to the City. The City would lose Mike Cobb's vision, thoughtfulness, and experience, but it would not lose it forever because he would be put to work at the Chamber. He thanked him for all of the work that he had done for the City. Council Member Fazzino could not think of anyone who had contrib-uted more to the community over the past quarter of a century in different manifestations than Mike Cobb. He could not think of anyone else who deserved the title "Mr. Palo Alto" more. No one did a better job of convincing the Council of the importance of the City's economic base, but at the same time, Mike Cobb always demonstrated tremendous sensitivity to neighborhoods. He articulated a vision of the community, and his Futurecast 2001 effort was a model for the current Comprehensive Plan process. Because of Futurecast 2001, Mike was able to bring an entirely new generation of residents into city government. Mike was an outstanding Mayor, and he could not think of anyone more focused on the process of running meetings and encouraging his colleagues to act. Mike would best be remembered for his successful efforts to preserve Cubberley as a park and a community center for the entire community. He would most miss Mike's ability on many occa-sions to focus on the real issues before the Council and push the Council into a position of taking action. He thanked Mike Cobb for his service. Mike Cobb would be truly missed. Council Member Andersen called special attention to Mike Cobb's commitment to the community in a way that epitomized his willing-ness to vote for what was best for the City regardless of how he personally felt about an issue. He worked with Mike Cobb on the Santa Clara County's Giants proposal, and there was no one more committed to the Giants than Mike Cobb. The way in which the proposal developed was in their opinion not in the best interest of Palo Alto, and many people could not understand Mike's dis-senting vote. He knew that it might have an impact on the upcoming election and it might mean that the Giants would move out of the Bay Area, but it was in the best interest of the community. He presented Mike Cobb with a caricature drawn by a student from Gunn High School. Council Member Schneider said Mike Cobb's dedication and commit-ment to serving the people of Palo Alto had set a shining example for her to follow. Based upon the things that he had volunteered to do and was being drafted to do, everyone would continue to have the benefit of his experience and wisdom. He was a hard act to follow. Vice Mayor Simitian reaffirmed all of the comments about Mike Cobb's many contributions and fine attributes that had already been described in the Resolution and by his colleagues. He presented a baseball autographed by the 18 Council Members who had served with him during his 12 years of tenure. Mayor Kniss presented the Resolution and other mementos to Former
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Mayor and Council Member Cobb. Former Mayor and Council Member Cobb thanked the high school student who drew the caricature. He did not want to command too much credit for the Futurecast 2001 activity because Former Mayor Larry Klein and a number of other colleagues had a lot to do with the activity as well. He said being a Council Member was the best job he had ever had, but the worst paying. His unworked agenda still had 13 items, and he hoped the Council would take advantage of his offer to step forward and serve the City in any way he could. He hoped the Council would continue to love the City as much as he did and to continue to serve her in that spirit. It had been a joy to work with his colleagues--sometimes a challenge but always a pleasure. The City had a superb staff and a fantastic City Council. He thanked his campaign staff and his family for their support. He thanked all of the people who gave him the ability to have the honor and privilege of serving the City of Palo Alto. United States Congressional Representative Anna Eshoo paid tribute to each of the Council Members and said local government was the closest to the people. The ultimate compliment was their election and reelection by the people of the community. Mayor Kniss and Vice Mayor Simitian at the helm and their personal and public regard for one another made a great set of bookends. Their cooperation would leave a great mark on the community. She thanked each of the Council Members for who and what they were, and she felt privileged to serve their mutual constituents together. She presented a Resolution to Mike Cobb and thanked him for loving the community the way he had. He had recognized throughout the years that the real jewel and crown of life was to serve one's community, and he had done it honorably, decently, and with a great deal of vigor. Santa Clara County Supervisor Dianne McKenna congratulated Mayor Kniss and Vice Mayor Simitian. She said the Mayor's three challenges for the coming year were her goals as well. She had the pleasure of serving with Council Member McCown in the American Leadership Forum and the previous year with her as Mayor of Palo Alto and Chairperson of the Congestion Management Agency (CMA). Former Mayor and Council Member McCown was a model for all elected officials to follow. She presented a Resolution to Mike Cobb which outlined his accomplishments and the depth of feeling and commitment he had for Palo Alto. A person could hear in his words the compassion and depth of feeling he had for his community and at the same time the joy that he had serving it. She knew Mike Cobb would miss his service to the community, but through the Chamber, the City would not let him rest. Betsy Shotwell, Representative for State Assemblyman Byron Sher, congratulated Mayor Kniss and Vice Mayor Simitian and welcomed Council Member Schneider aboard. She presented a Resolution from the Assembly to Mike Cobb and thanked him for all of his dedicated hard work and the thousands of hours given to his community. Casey Beyer, Representative for State Senator Tom Campbell,
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presented a Resolution to Mike Cobb. He had an occasion to work with the City of Palo Alto and Mike Cobb on Federal Emergency Management Act (FEMA) which represented the willingness of a leader in the community to take on all of the sectors of government and to do the right thing for his community. Mayor Kniss acknowledged additional elected officials and members of the Boards, Commissions, and organizations in attendance that evening. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Kniss presented a proclamation to Tamas Ortutay. Leland Levy, 225 Waverley No. 1, Menlo Park, spoke regarding Tamas Ortutay and his contribution to the Arts in Palo Alto. Ralph White, 580 Van Buren Place, Los Altos, spoke regarding Tamas Ortutay and his contribution to the Arts in Palo Alto. Mayor Kniss announced the appointment of Standing Committee members: Policy and Services Committee: Joseph H. Huber, Chair Ron Andersen Jean McCown Micki Schneider Finance Committee: Lanie Wheeler, Chair Gary Fazzino Dick Rosenbaum Joe Simitian ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 9:04 p.m. to a reception. ATTEST: APPROVED: City Clerk Mayor NOTE: Sense minutes (synopsis) are prepared in accordance with Palo Alto Municipal Code Sections 2.04.200 (a) and (b). The City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are made solely for the purpose of facilitating the preparation of the minutes of the meetings. City Council and Standing Committee meeting tapes are recycled two years from the date of the meeting. The tapes are available for members of the public to listen to during regular office hours.
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