Returning Councilman Larry Carr to council for a second
four-year term is a no-brainer. He has showed a capacity to quickly
grasp the intricacies of complicated city business.
Returning Councilman Larry Carr to council for a second four-year term is a no-brainer. He has showed a capacity to quickly grasp the intricacies of complicated city business. We have confidence he will continue to do so as council faces setting the urban limit line, the on-going budget battle, the Walnut Grove auto dealership, building the library and keeping an eye on Coyote Valley development.
While nobody is perfect, nor can they please all the people, all the time (we didn’t make that up), Carr is open to his constituents, thoughtful about issues and can ask hard questions, even voting against the majority. He often makes the decisive statement at council meetings that wraps up discussion and focuses council direction, a talent frequently needed at the sometimes-sprawling council meetings.
We haven’t always agreed with Carr’s positions but we appreciate the way he explains them.
The second open council position – vacated by Hedy Chang who decided not to seek a third term – will be filled by one of four untried citizens: Allan Abrams, Mark Grzan, Kelly Bell Kubica or Julia Starling.
We’re going to go with Grzan, who is sometimes testy but always passionate about what he believes. And he, like Chang, will stand up for constituents with a cause.
Grzan has been a bit of a “thorn in the side” of city government for years (not necessarily a bad thing) but what that really means is that he is willing to ask hard questions. He is that rare bird – extraordinarily fiscally conservative with other people’s money, unwilling to change zoning and the general plan because the wind blows in a different direction, and a committed conservationist.
Grzan is someone who truly loves the town and understands why people move here. He wants to preserve that. He will not be reluctant to ask hard questions. When in the minority of an issue, he will have to learn how to move on to other matters once the decision is made.
Grzan might be occasionally contentious but he is polite, civil and already well-educated in how cities run. His learning curve would be far shorter than of any other non-incumbent.
Abrams has turned out to be surprisingly interested in issues facing the city other than only the Walnut Grove auto dealership issue, his main focus and reason for running.
But his reliance on e-mail chain mail campaigning, while certainly high-tech, hasn’t made his a familiar name around town. Abrams most certainly has the capacity to learn on the job. We encourage him to stay active in city government.
Starling is a charming, engaging person, seemingly far younger than her 70 years. She would be a committed representative for people but, we fear, would not thrive as a council member. We do urge the council to appoint her to the Senior Advisory Commission at the earliest possible opportunity. She’ll wow them.
Kubica has been beset with health problems during the campaign, and was not even able to respond to questions by e-mail, though she promised to do so, much less appear at the candidate forum. While we laud her courage to run for this challenging position, we feel she should wait until her life settles down a bit before making another bid for the council. She, too, chose to run because of the Walnut Grove auto dealer proposal.
We recommend Carr and Grzan on Nov. 2.
Due to an editor’s error in Saturday’s edition, the mayoral endorcement appeared twice.
