Kao, the first Chinese-American to run for the Saratoga City Council, can be seen on most meeting nights, taking copious notes as the five council members deliberate the future of the city.

Like the two other candidates running for the city council, she has stressed in campaign meetings that she wants to preserve the character of Saratoga.

Kao said that after she decided to run for the city council, Vice Mayor Kathleen King talked to her and encouraged her to meet Mayor Ann Waltonsmith. Kao and Waltonsmith decided to run on a slate because both felt that they had a lot in common.

In a city that has a 30 percent Asian population, Kao hopes to reach out to the people who feel left out of the political process.

Even as she talks, sipping a chocolate drink at Tapioca Express, a new tea shop in Saratoga downtown, groups of Asian kids flock to the shop.

Kao grew up in Taiwan and came to the United States for graduate school. Her boyfriend was also moving to the United States for higher studies. "I followed my heart," she said. That boyfriend, Chii Ming Kao, is her husband now. Andrew, their son, is a student at UC-Berkeley.

Kao moved to California in 1996, when her husband decided to start a company. It was a far cry from being on the East Coast. "I was amazed that you could wash your car here during the winter," said Kao. "Besides, there is the amazing diversity of California. We found that we had a lot in common with many people ... people who came here from different cultures and got accepted."

Two years later, after she had settled down in the Bay Area, she ran for the Saratoga Union School Board District and got elected. "It is one way to know your kids and also know the community," she said.

Kao said that she is fascinated by how an entity like the city runs. "I have a passion to serve the public; I feel strongly about that. I can say that I almost felt a calling."

Kao's real name is Jia-Leen, which in Chinese means a very fine quality of a jade. She calls herself Aileen to make it easier for everybody else.

There is a lot that she wants to change in Saratoga. "You come back home, you close your door and you do not interact," said Kao. "People here are aware of these problems. It is almost as if people are segregating themselves."

Kao said that the school community in the city is much more adaptive. "They want to mingle," she said. "But with the city, unless you have some business with them, you really do not know how the city government works."

Kao said that someone will have to make the effort to change things.

"I know that deep inside, everyone wants to be friendly and break the ice," said Kao. "But many people in Saratoga are professionals, work all day long and don't have the time to socialize and meet people."

Kao said that she has always let her neighbors know who she was and what she did. "I put out their garbage and pick up their mail when they are gone, and they do the same when I am away," said Kao. "It is a two-way communication. It takes getting used to."

She still knows a lot of children and parents because of her experience on the school board.

"The city is changing demographically," she said. "But for every decision that is made, there will be people who are opposed to it."

Kao said that she had heard some local citizens say that the city government is not interested in listening to them.

"I will make sure that I do not hear that or be told that the city council is tailored for certain groups. I want to change that perception."

Kao confesses that until a few months ago she did not even know what the term "slate" meant when it came to the election. "As a first-timer, I do not know the process. Ann Waltonsmith has showed me the ropes," she said.

"I want the community to embrace me," said Kao, who says she is inspired a lot by Hillary Clinton.

She then takes a look at her notes again. Aileen Kao is all about doing her homework.