The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Valerio prepares to assume mayoral role Vorreiter moves to vice mayor By JUSTIN BERTON Manuel Valerio moved one seat to his left at the dais Tuesday night, becoming the 31st mayor of Sunnyvale. Councilmember Pat Vorreiter is now vice mayor. Valerio, a graduate of Sunnyvale High School and lifetime resident of the city, said the new downtown project, and mending wounds with the public safety officers' union, will be his primary concerns during his one-year tenure. "I look at myself as a consensus builder," Valerio said. "I would like to help create common solutions, to minimize the acrimony." Though the mayoral post is rotated annually among councilmembers and is mostly ceremonial, the position does carry new obligations. Besides chairing the council meetings, Valerio will be responsible for appointing members to future subcommittees. Valerio said he hopes to create a subcommittee that will develop a document instructing councilmembers on the protocol and procedures associated with their position. The mild-mannered Valerio, who considers himself a "pretty quiet guy" on the dais, said when he does become passionate on a topic "it tends to have impact." Councilmember Jack Walker, who took office along with Valerio and Vorreiter in 1996, considered Valerio "the best-spoken member of the council" and pointed to Valerio's regional reputation as one of his greatest assets. Valerio worked as a field representative in the office of Alfred Alquist for 10 years up until 1996. He also was the Sunnyvale representative on a countywide board for the Valley Transportation Authority. "It's amazing how many people he knows," Walker said. "His knowledge of the region is just incredible." Valerio said his contacts and experience with other politicos in the area, including John Vasconcellos, Anna Eshoo and Elaine White Alquist, might benefit Sunnyvale residents on regional projects. "On behalf of the city, I can leave a message with them or their staff," Valerio said, "and feel confident the message will be conveyed." Valerio replaces Jim Roberts, who described his year leading the council as "a wonderful experience, a labor of love." He said his reduced responsibilities will allow him to spend more time debating policy at the dais rather than being preoccupied with chairing council meetings. "It will also give me more time to get a social life," the former mayor quipped, "which I'm looking forward to." Pat Vorreiter, a Sunnyvale resident of 31 years, will fill Valerio's former post. Vorreiter also pointed to the PSOA and downtown as the major issues for the next year. Vorreiter said implementing the city's 1993 downtown specific plan will be a main priority in the coming months for the council. "I hope that we will be able to make it grow into a reality in that area," Vorreiter said. The new vice mayor also noted that the defeat of council's Measure S "should be humbling to us that approximately one half of the people disagreed with what our position was. We need to respect that. We need to move forward with uniting our community families." As vice mayor, Vorreiter will chair all meetings when Valerio is absent. "I look forward to being his first line of support, if you will," Vorreiter added. Valerio said he looked forward to the coming year as mayor, and commented on the past two as a councilmember. "It has been a great source of pride for me to serve in the community in which I grew up," he said. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 11, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.