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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Pat Vorreiter, Sunnyvale's new mayor, says she's slowed down since becoming a grandmother. But it's still a challenge to keep up with her.
Mayor is aggro about Sunnyvale
By Sam Scott
Pat Vorreiter, Sunnyvale's new mayor, has a theory for why she does triathlons. She says it's a reaction to having grown up in a small Midwest town during the '40s and '50s, frustrated that sports were the domain of males.
"I love the competition," she says. "I grew up as a tomboy, but I just didn't have the opportunity to be an athlete when I was a kid. This is latent."
Testimonials to past races, a group of medals and a photo of the new mayor on a racing bike hang in Vorreiter's law office. These days, however, Vorreiter says doesn't have much time for competition. She says she has cut down on her workouts. The old regime of eight or nine times a week has given way to a new, more gentle schedule of five sessions per week.
She's a busy woman.
Besides her commitments as mayor and council member, Vorreiter has her own law practice, focusing on estate planning, probate, and family law. After staying home for her three children's early years, she earned her law degree attending night school at Santa Clara University, working part-time to pay for the tuition.
She's also a grandma. A call to her on Friday is likely to be answered with a request to call again after the diapers are changed.
"Friday is my Grandma day," the 31-year resident of Sunnyvale says. "I try very hard to keep that sacred."
That's the kind of priority on family that might be expected of a woman who would have spent her whole life in small towns if hi-tech hadn't worked its magic on Sunnyvale. When Vorreiter and her husband, who worked at NASA/Ames came, arrived in 1968, it was still an orchard community.
Having seen things change dramatically, Vorreiter still thinks that Sunnyvale retains the charm it had.
"We been able to grow with the times and still maintain a sense of community."
Things will change even more under Vorreiter's watch. Construction next year should add a new Caltrain station and parking structure, five-story offices buildings, a redeveloped mall, and a condominium complex on the Olsen Orchard to the downtown area.
"I hope residents look back and see the year 2000 as an important and exciting year in our community," she says.
Despite the attention that will be showered on downtown as a result of the changes, she says that the council will maintain a broader focus.
"It's important not to lose sight of Sunnyvale residents and neighborhoods," she says.
Of particular concern to Vorreiter are the minority residents. A significant goal for her term in office is making Sunnyvale a more ethnically inclusive community. Vorreiter says she wants to see future councils more clearly reflect the city's heterogeneity. All the current council members are of European extract.
"I want Sunnyvale to truly be not just a diverse community, but a community of diverse peoples," she says. "I want to reach out to people who aren't inclined to participate in the process, but whose needs are very real."
To that end, she says she wants to reach out to leaders in the city's various ethnic communities and involve them in actions on the civic stage. She says a celebration of the city's ethnic variety is tentatively planned for September.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
