Council Member Victoria Smith presented outgoing Mayor Tom McCormick with his gavel. Photo Ohlen Alexander

At the December 7th City Council meeting, outgoing Council member and former Mayor Tom McCormick was recognized for his service on the Council over the past four years. As Council Members Victoria Smith, Amy Worth, Sue Severson, and Steve Glazer gently teased McCormick about his adroit use of the Mayor's gavel, they also commended his hard work on programs for the youth of the City and the streamlining of the planning process. McCormick said he truly enjoyed his time on the Council and that he was looking forward to having more time to spend with his four children.

The meeting quickly moved on to the installation of three new Council members: incumbents Amy Worth and Sue Severson, who placed first and second in votes counted in the November election, and new Council member Dean Orr. Orr had been the Chair of the Planning Commission; Louise Adamson will step into that role. The new Council then elected Victoria Smith to serve as Mayor, her second time in this post, and Steve Glazer as Vice Mayor.

Mayor Smith's outlook for the upcoming year in Orinda was confident yet sobering. Smith noted that the ongoing recession and the flat-lining of the City's tax revenues would continue to present financial challenges in the next year. As far as repairing Orinda's crumbling roads, with the limited funds available Smith acknowledged, "We have not been able to [fully] address this." Regarding the downtown development process, she stated that the Council was committed to continuing a two-way dialogue with the citizenry. And in closing, Smith invoked the lyrics of the song I've Got to Use My Imagination, by Gladys Knight & the Pips, and stated, "We gotta keep on keeping on."