Mayor Ann Waltonsmith, who is running for re-election to the Saratoga City Council, says that she has never missed a vote in her life. "My parents taught me that it is a privilege to be able to be free to vote," said Waltonsmith.

Waltonsmith, 64, is now hoping that the citizens of Saratoga exercise that privilege and vote for her to be part of the city council again, in the November elections.

Waltonsmith says that her training as a psychologist has helped her in the last four years as she went about her business as mayor.

"I don't get mad. I know it is hard. People come to talk to us only when they are mad," she said. "In my profession, I am always working with families or individuals who are angry. So it is easier for me to deal with city issues also."

The last few months have seen a few contentious issues bubble up in city forums. The neighbors of Kevin Moran Park have been upset that the city wanted to use the park for regulation soccer fields. Some neighbors are upset that the city wants to develop the De Anza trail. Dog owners are unhappy that off-leash dogs were being cited in the city. They want an off-leash park for dogs in the city.

"We still have a lot of work to do," said Waltonsmith.

But she can also reel off a list of achievements of the last four years.

In campaign forums recently, she has held forth on how the city has supported various commercial projects. She also likes to talk about some long-standing controversial issues in the city she has tackled as a mayor. The West Valley College stadium issue is one topic she mentions frequently. This year the city and the West Valley College administration buried decades of acrimony over the construction of a stadium at the college by reaching an agreement that essentially says that no stadium will be built at the college.

Waltonsmith has talked again and again about the need to keep Saratoga rural. In fact, the slogan on her campaign pamphlet is: "Preserving Saratoga while moving forward together."

She said that when she campaigned for the council four years ago, she had talked about serving the citizens without listening to any special-interest groups. Waltonsmith says that she has succeeded.

She has put forward a list of other achievements in her election brochure. But it is the proposed utility tax she talks about most often.

Waltonsmith says that she is hoping that voters say yes to the utility tax for Saratoga.

"If that doesn't happen, budget cuts will be necessary. The streets will look more worn; the medians will start looking shabby," she said.

Waltonsmith says her worst fears will be realized if the utility tax measure fails to pass and Proposition 1A, which ensures that the state government give back some of the money it has borrowed from cities over the years, fails too.

Meg Caldwell, a Saratoga resident who is part of the California Coastal Commission, has known Ann Waltonsmith for a number of years.

"She has unimpeachable integrity. She has a clear philosophy which guides her," said Caldwell. "I think the current city council has been a lot more noncontroversial than earlier city councils."

Waltonsmith was 7 years old when her family moved to the Bay Area. She now lives with her husband, Rick, and they have three children who live on the East Coast.

Waltonsmith says that one of her goals now is to attract younger people to the political process. "It takes a long time for young people to realize that politics are important. It is not enough to say that they do not like politics," said Waltonsmith. "The choices that politicians make will still affect them."

"It might not be an accident that they don't have a job. The young people have to learn to care," she said.

She believes that people can make a difference. "If the government doesn't listen, the citizens can make a difference," she said.