The city council returned to chambers in City Hall Monday night for the first time in almost three years.  The occasion was the annual rotation of the mayor and vice mayor roles.  Thankfully, B'game stuck to established procedure unlike San Mateo and Millbrae this year.  Chaos ensued in both places.  Some things were different in chambers.  For one, the heat seemed like it needed some maintenance work from a master technician.  Each chair on the dais and in the staff area was equipped with a screen and two large screens have been installed on the sidewalls to accommodate hybrid live/Zoom meetings.  Zoomers' voices are now piped into the PA system giving a bit of an eerie feel to comments.  I may have to comment remotely sometime just to hear the effect!

The big event of the evening was Ann O'Brien Keighran's retirement after 17 years on the council and 7 years on the Planning Commission.  The DJ piece with some quotes is here. Plenty of regular locals turned out for the event as resolutions were read and plaques presented.  Diane Papan read her own resolution and Dave Pine's staff member, Linda Wolin, stood in for Pine.  Ann's council peers and some members of the public recounted some of the big events of her tenure; with the Safeway project bringing up many memories.  David Bowlby, a Safeway consultant back in the day, recounted meetings with Ann and my wife who were the Safeway sub-committee members. He also recalled meeting with the Citizens for a Better Burlingame.  Just hearing the CBB name mentioned reminded me of all those morning meetings to strategize and commiserate over the original monster Safeway design.  Historical Society president Jen Pfaff and my wife dug deep into the Society archives to construct a scrapbook for Ann that captured many of the early events in her 24-year service including the time that Joe Galligan tried to get her and dearly missed Stan Vistica replaced on Planning.  Ah, the Old Days.

Ann concluded her time on the dais with remarks that brought tears to her eyes near the end–even as she said she wouldn't let that happen.  I had a nice view sitting behind her parents, Denis and Katie O'Brien, as mom and daughter reached for tissues at the same time.

Following Ann's closing remarks, Ricardo Ortiz was sworn in by Diane Papan.  Michael Brownrigg was sworn in by Library Trustee Kris Cannon and her husband Jim while thanking long-time advisor Jeff Londer.  Finally, new councilman Peter Stevenson was sworn in by city manager Lisa Goldman.  Many locals showed up for this renewed annual event especially from Peter's new district 5 including local DJ and disaster preparedness expert Jeff Tateosian and commercial realtor Jim Sobel.  I chatted with Burlingame Neighborhood Network board members David Harris and Ann Hinckle, local realtor Erik Winkler and our local waste wizard Joe La Mariana of ReThink Waste.

As witnessed by the night's events and attendees, B'game still has a small-town feel.  I have no idea how long it will last given the notion that we must comply-or-else with Sacramento's demands for growth even as the state population shrinks.  But for one night it still felt small.  Here is the new dais set-up and Ann Keighran's appearance on the new big screen.  Happy retirement–she's gonna love it.