 | | | Teresa Onoda at a 2017 council meeting Photo Andy Scheck | | | | | | Vice mayor and former mayor Teresa Onoda said that she would not run again for her seat on the Moraga Town Council in the Nov. 6 general election, indicating that she felt her mission had been accomplished, and that she had other personal matters to attend. She plans to stay involved with the town she loves in creative ways.
Onoda says that when she was elected four years ago she had specific objectives such as the passage of updates to the ridgeline and hillside development regulations, the creation of an arts committee, and the opening of an open space passive park at West Commons. All have been accomplished and she says that the good karma she brought to the town would continue to bring benefits in the future.
The plein-air painter says that she will continue to serve the town in creative ways, beyond the confines of the Brown Act that regulates public officials' actions. She started a group called "We Will" a few months ago, a women-led movement to purchase sculptures to beautify the town, with an eye on revitalization as well.
As she thinks about the future, Onoda remembers the creative think tanks she belonged to in college. "We would meet once a week and generate wild creative ideas," she said, adding that she wants something similar in Moraga. She is already filled with creative ideas. When the rainy season arrives she envisions the creation of clay balls infused with wildflower seeds that would be thrown around town to create impromptu displays the following spring; she has already talked to Moraga Police Chief Jon King about adorning the back of stop signs with bird houses or small sculptures; and she would like to start a poetry group that could write poems on sidewalks.
Onoda says that her involvement with town affairs was a unique opportunity and that she was glad she could do it. Onoda hopes her work will inspire others to follow in her civic-minded footsteps. Her passion for the town stays intact - it will just be expressed in other ways.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA