Five members - each serving four-year terms. That brief phrase describes, at once, both the makeup of the Orinda City Council and the importance of individual votes cast by Orindans when choosing their leaders.
As volunteers, the members of the Orinda City Council receive no pay. Their impacts are felt by residents in the short term - when council members declare states of emergency to help Orindans recover from storm drain failures - and often remain visible to future generations, as will be the case with the recently replaced Manzanita Bridge. The reward at the conclusion of their service is the comfort received from knowing that they made a positive difference for their community.
In November 2014, three council seats will be in play. As of press time, the three incumbents - Dean Orr, Sue Severson and Amy Worth - had signaled their possible intention to run as had five others: Carlos Baltodano, former chair of the Orinda Planning Commission; Linda Delehunt, who ran for council in 2012 and just recently for the post of County Superintendent of Schools; Ed Jajeh, vice president at Riverbed Technology and board member at SPUR (www.spur.org); Eve Phillips, a Silicon Valley investor and co-founder of the Moraga-based, digital behavioral health company, Empower Interactive (www.empower-interactive.com); and Robert Thompson, a longtime member of Orinda's Finance Advisory Committee.
Because the period to file will not close until Aug. 8 (or Aug. 13 if any incumbent elects not to file), this is just a glimpse at the possible slate of candidates. Names may be added or withdrawn. Lamorinda Weekly will begin interviewing candidates once the official slate has been confirmed.
As volunteers, the members of the Orinda City Council receive no pay. Their impacts are felt by residents in the short term - when council members declare states of emergency to help Orindans recover from storm drain failures - and often remain visible to future generations, as will be the case with the recently replaced Manzanita Bridge. The reward at the conclusion of their service is the comfort received from knowing that they made a positive difference for their community.
In November 2014, three council seats will be in play. As of press time, the three incumbents - Dean Orr, Sue Severson and Amy Worth - had signaled their possible intention to run as had five others: Carlos Baltodano, former chair of the Orinda Planning Commission; Linda Delehunt, who ran for council in 2012 and just recently for the post of County Superintendent of Schools; Ed Jajeh, vice president at Riverbed Technology and board member at SPUR (www.spur.org); Eve Phillips, a Silicon Valley investor and co-founder of the Moraga-based, digital behavioral health company, Empower Interactive (www.empower-interactive.com); and Robert Thompson, a longtime member of Orinda's Finance Advisory Committee.
Because the period to file will not close until Aug. 8 (or Aug. 13 if any incumbent elects not to file), this is just a glimpse at the possible slate of candidates. Names may be added or withdrawn. Lamorinda Weekly will begin interviewing candidates once the official slate has been confirmed.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA