Friends and family gathered Dec. 10 for a celebratory evening of recognizing two councilmen who have served the city for four years, witnessing new council members take the oath of office and finding out the individuals named as mayor and vice mayor for the coming year.

The evening began with Mayor Nick Streit reporting on the work accomplished by the old council, such as addressing the Saratoga Fire District's new station, the El Quito Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, housing demands and the new library.

Streit's speech was essentially a wrap-up of his term in office, which expired that night, but the evening did not end sadly for the mayor. He later took the oath of office to began his second term and received the support of his colleagues to serve as mayor for another year.

Streit, who knew he had a second term on council to look forward to, managed to deliver his speech without faltering, whereas outgoing Vice Mayor Evan Baker was visibly more emotional when it was his turn to speak.

"I hope we haven't disappointed you too often in our decisions. For me, it's been a sincere privilege and honor to serve," he said, with his voice trailing at the end of the sentence as he wiped his nose.

Baker paid tribute to the spouses of the council members, "who put up with the demands of the council without [sharing] any of the limelight," and advised the new council members to always use both their heads and hearts when making decisions.

Finally, in his last address to the citizens of Saratoga, the outgoing councilman wished everyone well: "May you sleep peacefully and without fear every night ... may your city council do no harm while doing good ... and may your water always flow in the right direction every time you flush," he said, to the laughter and applause of all in attendance.

Outgoing councilman John Mehaffey followed up that speech with one of his own, in which he thanked colleagues and city staff for their work and identified the city's purchase of the North Campus facility this summer as the legacy of which he is most proud.

The two men were then presented with small plaques and bottles of champagne, and flowers were given to both councilmen and their wives. When all was said and done, Baker and Mehaffey took their exit from the dais and Kathleen King, Norman Kline and Streit stepped forward to be sworn in. This was followed by the nomination of mayor and vice mayor.

With unanimous support from the other council members to serve as mayor again, Streit thanked his colleagues for their continued confidence in him and cautioned the council to prepare for the state budget crisis as a serious issue to contend with in future meetings.

Ann Waltonsmith got the nod of approval from her colleagues to serve as vice mayor.

"I plan to be available every day for you," she said in her address to the citizens, reassuring them that she would do her best to respond to their calls and emails.

The ceremonial portion of the evening ended just the opposite of how it began—with words from the new council members.

Turning to her family seated in the front row of the audience, King thanked them for their support and noted that the opportunity to meet new people through the election process was "a good way to start this new chapter" in her life.

Thanking candidates Andrew Barnes and Neil Malhotra, whom he ran against during the election, Kline remarked that he understands the trust associated with his role as councilman.

"It is a trust I expect to earn over many hours of work," he said.