Optimistic 2009 City Council begins work

<p>With three new faces and one significantly tightened budget to work with, the Petaluma City Council held its first meeting of the new year Monday, its members expressing optimism in the face of challenging economic times.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Coming off a year that saw the city lay off employees and offer early retirement buyouts to deal with a $5 million budget shortfall, new and returning members of the council pledged to work together to battle economic woes.</p><p>“It’s really important in 2009 that we take some broad steps — I think it’s time,” Mayor Pamela Torliatt said, announcing a list of her goals for the year that included making progress on infrastructure projects and “focusing on our fiscal health.”</p><p>Torliatt also said the city would undertake a study of its future water and wastewater projects to determine if any reductions were warranted in customers’ rates for those services.</p><p>Reducing those rates was the goal of a citizen-sponsored ballot measure in November that the city opposed, saying it would have devastating financial effects.</p><p>The measure failed, but city officials said rate increases planned for the future should be reviewed.</p><p>Torliatt also said the city should work on a prioritization system for new development, a proposal that proved contentious when it was considered by the council previously.</p><p>“We have a lull at this point in time and now is when we need to prioritize what projects we’d like to move forward,” she said.</p><p>Next week, the council will hold a special workshop to begin crafting a long-awaited economic strategy. That session will be followed by the council’s traditional January goal-setting meeting on Thursday, Jan. 15.</p><p>The council’s economic strategic plan workshop begins at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12 at City Hall. The goal-setting session is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning at the Petaluma Sheraton.</p><p>This week’s meeting began with the swearing-in ceremony for incoming council members David Glass, Mike Healy and Tiffany Renée, who won three seats in November’s election, ousting incumbents Samantha Freitas and Karen Nau. Mike O’Brien decided not to run for a third term.</p><p>In a common theme, the three new members thanked their spouses and families for supporting their desire to serve on the council.</p><p>“The support of my wife and my family is absolutely critical to my being able to engage my passion to try to help the community and our region in these challenging times,” said Healy, who previously served two terms on the council.</p><p>“Without the support of my wife, I could not have even thought about coming back,” said Glass, who served as mayor from 2003 to 2006.</p><p>Councilmember Tiffany Renée also thanked her family, saying, “Without their support, I wouldn’t be here tonight.”</p><p>There were a few light-hearted moments, too. When Glass expressed his thanks to voters who supported him and the larger Petaluma community, the often-loquacious former radio host said, “I can’t put it into words — I know that you find that hard to believe.”</p><p>Later, when Torliatt called on “Councilmember Renée,” the newly seated council member noted, “I like the sound of that.”</p><p>In a unanimous and unsurprising vote, the council followed established procedure and elevated the longest-serving council member who had not yet served as vice mayor to the post — Teresa Barrett.</p><p>Barrett quickly swapped her “councilmember” nameplate with one reading “vice mayor,” drawing chuckles from the audience.</p><p>(Contact Corey Young at corey.young@arguscourier.com)</p>