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Manuel Valerio
Mayor and Vice Mayor confront no challengers
Safe seats for Vorreiter and Valerio
By Sam Scott
As unopposed candidates, Mayor Manuel Valerio and Vice Mayor Pat Vorreiter can sit back, relax, and ponder four more years as councilmembers on Election Day. Valerio thinks the absence of challengers signifies that most residents are pleased with the way things are going.
"One part of the equation is that most voters are generally satisfied," he says. "Basically the voters think that I've done a reasonably good job over the first four years."
Valerio claims that whatever success the council has achieved, it has achieved as a team. He says that hiring Robert LaSala as City Manager "was a very important decision." We've chosen a good person to evaluate our organization and take it to the next highest level of efficiency and improvement."
Vorreiter looks to this council's track record and sees three things she is most proud of: successfully bringing the National Guard Hangar to Moffett, laying of ground work for a new senior center, and moving ahead on plans to develop downtown into what she says will be a marvel for the future.
Under a system that rotates the mayorship each year to the most senior member yet to serve in that position, Vorreiter is in line to take over the position.
"I'm sure that I'll miss that opportunity as spokesperson of the council sometimes," Valerio says. He says he passes the position to Vorreiter with confidence.
Pat Vorreiter
As mayor, Vorreiter can begin working on one of her goals for Sunnyvale--embracing the city's diversity. At the candidates' forum early this month, Vorreiter said she envisions future councils with people of every creed.
"I would like start us on a journey of being a more inclusive community by celebrating our diversity and by involving people of different backgrounds," she says.
Vorreiter says the first step to the goal is staging events in recognizing the city's variety. Vorreiter says she plans to meet the leaders of minority cultures and encourage them to get involved in civic life.
Valerio wants the council to focus on downtown. "[I hope] that we work very carefully to make sure downtown revitalization and renovation is most successful, that we get a great place to go to shop and dine and enjoy."
At the same time, Valerio's major concern for the future is that the council doesn't become overly concerned with the downtown and neglect other part of the city. "[I hope that we] don't become so downtown-centric that we forget that the outlying areas need to have attention paid to them."
Valerio says he also wants council to give a satisfactory contract to city workers, especially SEA, who are currently at an impasse in negotiations.
"I'd like to make sure that our employees especially those in SEA are provided with a very positive contract and that we are able therefore to retain and recruit good public employees for the city."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
