This is also the time of the year when a new chairman is elected.

At a meeting on Nov. 15, Alex Tennant was elected to the post, replacing Dick Allen, who will continue as a commissioner.

Tennant, a finance commissioner for the last three years, said that he has always liked to do volunteer work for the community. "When my kids were younger, my volunteer activities centered around their schools and their other activities," he said.

As his kids grew older, Tennant looked for other volunteer opportunities. When he saw an opening at the finance commission, he applied right away. "I have lots of experience in business, including the finance side of business."

Tennant is the general manager at Superflight, Inc. in Palo Alto. The company develops, manufactures and sells sports toys. "Our products are sold to retailers such as Big 5 Sporting Goods and Sportmart and also through distributors in over 30 countries," he said.

It is going to be a challenging year for Tennant and his band of commissioners. "We are facing the reality that even though our national economy appears to be improving, when and how quickly the local economy will improve is much more difficult to forecast," Tennant said. "The city has the challenge of trying to provide the best possible services to its citizens while living within its currently expected revenue stream."

The finance commissioners will soon be talking to the city council for directions on the matter. Tennant said that the failure of the utility tax measure does not affect the current year's budget. "Our current budget was created without the expectation of the passage of the utility tax so there is no immediate crisis, but when planning for the next budget and the budgets beyond that, it will be important to accurately forecast revenues and to prioritize expenditures of those expected revenues."

Tennant said that it was too early to get into specifics, but Saratoga citizens can look forward to a frugal budget in the next year.

He said that he had no idea that the finance commissioners were going to choose him to be the next chairman at the meeting.

"We have a very capable commission and everyone is knowledgeable and skilled. They are not politically ambitious," he said. "No one is trying to wear a feather in their cap."

Tennant moved to Saratoga from Santa Clara 12 years ago. He graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in economics and master's degree in business administration.