I had appeared at the city council chambers tonite hoping to both publicly thank Ray Mueller for his years of service for Menlo Park and to express in person, my support for Cat Carlton for completing the remainder of Rays council term. But almost two hours in and only eight more or so interviews to go, I remembered that I had three kids and dinner waiting at home, two of which returned for the holidays.
So, it was a stark reminder how many dinners at home Ray must have allowed to get cold waiting for him to return from chambers these past ten years. It is a sacrifice for public service very very few of us have made. In addition, as I listened to Drew Combs outline the many different projects and types of city business Ray had to oversee, I was reminded how many citizens like me seldom ever get to know the hard work and the attention needed to properly manage the citys administration. We citizens seldom encounter the city government except to complain about street paving or traffic lights, or in that rare instance, come speak our minds on some politically controversial issue. But council members like Ray Mueller have to appear every Tuesday night to go over city business whether it is interesting or not, exciting or boring, big or small.
It is for these very reasons, I once again re-iterate my support for Cat Carlton to fulfill Rays term. Cat and Rays first terms were served together. It was the beginning of a relatively peaceful series of council terms, the council having put aside some of the more contentious issues of the past. I credit Cat and Ray with bringing a level of professionalism and objectivity to the council. Achieving a level of balance between preservation of the towns character and yet allowing economic development was a job well done.
I listened to the first two candidates. While I applaud their volunteerism, their inexperience and unfamiliarity with city business was entirely obvious. In addition, it seems that none of the candidates on the list have ever served on a city commission. If the four council members want to train Rays successor for weeks or months on end, that is a job in addition to managing meetings. Cat Carlton, it is obvious, will hit the ground running and will contribute to the council.
-Richard
