Editorial Editorial (November 26, 2004)

All grumbling aside, it's the mayor's award

There's been some grumbling over the decision by Mayor Tom Pico to give his 2004 Mayor's Award to top city officials who have just left the municipal payroll. The award, handed out at the annual Mayor's Award dinner last week at the Senior Center, went to Deborah Acosta McKeehan, city manager for the last 14 years, who decided to step down and was succeeded last month by her Deputy City Manager Nelson Fialho. Also receiving this year's award was Brian Swift, who retired last month as Planning Director after 30 years with the city government. Pico acknowledged at the dinner meeting that he was breaking with tradition by bestowing the awards for service performed to two people on the public payroll, but he said Swift and McKeehan are outstanding individuals who have been dedicated to their work well beyond the call of duty for the good of Pleasanton.

We agree. Go anywhere in the Tri-Valley and beyond, and Deborah McKeehan's name is recognized as a top municipal manager. She has been a part of almost every statewide municipal officials' meeting and has worked tirelessly at often long nighttime meetings of the City Council and other commissions. She meets regularly with civic and business groups and has been the catalyst to resolve differences in planning, development, budgeting and administration. Swift, whose trademark beard is familiar to those who attend council and Planning Commission meetings or watch them on community television, told the 250 award dinner guests that during his three decades in city planning and for a while as acting city attorney, he has probably been involved in the construction or redesigns of the homes of almost everyone in the room. Popular and deserving of this special recognition? You bet.

Still, Pico's decision to grant the coveted annual award to those who have been paid - and paid well - by taxpayers for doing the job they were hired to do, raises the issue as to who might come next. Volunteerism has waned and calls for applying for open seats on the Planning Commission, Library Commission or other panels sometimes go begging and often must be readvertised. Decisions are increasingly made by city staff, and public opinion suggests that because we let City Hall make the decisions, we may have outstanding performers on the public payroll who deserve recognition. Maybe there should be a special award for those employees and managers, much as the private sector has its Employee of the Year and year-end banquets to salute its top managers.

The Mayor's Award was initiated by the late Bob Reid, who presented it to William Herlihy in 1971 for his work in securing property from the federal government that is now our Sports Park. Through the years, the award has gone to individuals for their exemplary work in the nonprofit and the unpaid public sector. Not all recipients got their award for late night meetings on one of the commissions; Joe Callahan and Mark Sweeney were honored for their "contribution" in building Hacienda Business Park. In 2000, retiring Mayor Ben Tarver gave the Mayor's Award to Councilman Tom Pico, the only sitting council member to ever receive the award, and a move that generated some grumbling back then. Last year, Pico again broke with tradition and gave his award to the Cultural Arts Council instead of to an individual.

But as Mayor Reid stressed in developing the award, it is the "Mayor's Award," not controlled or determined by anyone else. Let's keep it that way instead of codifying it as a part of city legislation. Hopefully, our new mayor, Jennifer Hosterman, will listen to the concerns and place her emphasis on the volunteer sector in making next year's award. But whatever she does, it's her decision to make and we think it should stay that way.

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