I thought I could shrug off the embarrassment I felt at the Burlingame City Council meeting on Monday, but unfortunately, the ill feelings have haunted me for days. At the beginning of Monday night's meeting there seemed to be, at last, almost a feeling of calm. There were supporters of both outgoing and incoming Council members in the audience. Many a kind word was said about Mary Janney and her many contributions to the City of Burlingame, and the applause were many, from ALL in attendance.
The evening was marred by the insolent, disgraceful behavior of Joe Galligan, who absolutely refuses to play by the rules which everyone else seems to adhere to. He can sit through more than an hour of accolades for Ms. Janney, but claims illness caused him to exit before Nagel and Coffey could be sworn in, which took all of five additional minutes. The end of the second phase of the Council meeting to perform the swearing in and handing over the gavel to Rosalie, as new Mayor, lasted all of about 13 minutes in total. In the process, Galligan missed taking over his seat a vice Mayor. Do you think he wants to give up that seat to someone else?
Could Galligan have shown some diplomacy and respect for, not only his fellow council members, but the vast members of the community, by staying in his seat for the conclusion of the meeting? I can only hope that this behavior is NOT telling of how gracious and civil he will be in the upcoming year. Here's hoping that Galligan can grow to be a representative of our community, who presents himself as such, and learn to work with the Council with grace and dignity, for the sake of our City. Good luck.

– Written by sue fuller