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interest groups." Vice Mayor Howard added that we all live in the same City, share the same goals for a better life in Redwood City, a clean and safe City that values diversity, and promotes quality education, care for the sick and elderly and a healthy economic climate. Vice Mayor Howard summed up with "We have been elected to lead, but we all must share in the responsibility for caring for our community. Participation is the key in creating a workable, political system. We need to open more doors....encourage individuals to step up and become involved in the very decision-making process that affects us all. And if that process takes a little cheerleading to get people motivated, then I am definitely up to the challenge. I look forward to working with Mayor Hartnett and members of the Council and the community. Thank you very much." F. Mayor Hartnett thanked Councilman Ruskin for the kind words he used in nominating him for Mayor stating they were very generous and greatly appreciated. He said he was truly honored and felt it a great privilege to be named Mayor of this great City. Mayor Hartnett reminded everyone that two of his uncles had sat in the same chair he was now occupying, and that his family had been privileged through the years having them in the family. But he regretted never having served with them, "closest coming to serving with Jack Greena1ch. But there is a lot that I have learned from watching them....on the Council and how they lived their lives. That is the most important thing I can take from them as I attempt to fulfill the public responsibility of serving as your Mayor." Mayor Hartnett stated that Redwood City was an extraordinary City and we were living in extraordinary times. He advised that the City has had three elections in four years, the most the City has ever had in such a short period of time and he wondered if there was a lesson to be learned from the outcomes. Mayor Hartnett pointed out that in 1992, the leading vote-getter was "Daniela Gasparini, whose message was positive, about what was good in the community and making it better, but celebrating what was good. Her candidacy was met with unmatched enthusiasm." In the 1994 Election, the highest vote getter was Diane Howard, and "she does deserve the title cheerleader, because she cheers for what is best in our community. She stands for what is best in our community, not unquestioning fidelity to what has gone in the past, but constructive criticism leading into the future." In the 1995 election Ira Ruskin was the leading vote getter, whose message "wasn't about tearing down the community. It too was about the good in our community, about celebrating, about making what's good better." Mayor Hartnett stated that there is a lot to celebrate in Redwood City, and "working together we can make it even better" He stated that as long as the Council heard the entire issue, voted on it and moved forward, it mattered not whether the vote was unanimous, as long as the best interests of the City were pursued there was no way they could lose.. Mayor Hartnett said that before he casts his vote on the Council he asks himself, "would my sons be proud? Would they think I did the right thing?" He added that Council decisions would not be measured next week, but ten years from now, and what they do today must stand that test of time. Mayor Hartnett stated that "there was no question in my mind that we have an excellent Council, that we have people here who have the best of our community at heart, and that we have nothing but bright days ahead. I thank you all for being here. I thank the candidates for running a great race, and thank my fellow Council Members for all the efforts they put in." He thanked the City staff and said "we have a work force that compares to the best in the private sector. They Adjourned Regular Meeting Minutes November 17,1995 MINUTE BOOK NO. 53 Page 12 Page No. 437 --- .. -.--....--. . "__"___M___"""""--.-...--.........-.---