DALY CITY—Reelected Daly City Councilmembers Ray Buenaventura and Michael Guingona were sworn into office, along with Judith Christensen, at the City Hall on December 2.
Buenaventura, Guingona and Christensen join fellow Councilmembers David Canepa and Sal Torres to comprise the 53rd City Council of a city whose motto is “Gateway to the Peninsula.” Buenaventura was voted by fellow councilmembers to the City mayorship, while Sal Torres was voted Vice Mayor.
In short remarks following his swearing in, Councilmember Buenaventura said that being a Councilmember is “a position that he truly holds in great humility” and described his experience during the campaign trail as “humbling.”
He thanked his family and his supporters for their hard work during his reelection bid and believes that his work in the City Council was what propelled him to victory rather than the literature he had in his campaign flyers and brochures.
“Thank you to the people of Daly City for giving me another chance to serve,” Buenaventura said in closing.
Councilmember Guingona, for his part, likewise thanked his family members and supporters for their hard work and encouragement.
He briefly rattled off some of the things he has done as Councilmember for the past 21 years, including appointing Dorie Paniza to the Library Commission and Ray Satorre to the Planning Commission, and supporting the city council bids of Carol Klatt, Sal Torres and Ray Buenaventura (whom he incidentally appointed to the Library Commission some years back).
“I am energized and excited to work in the City Council,” Guingona said. “I am always thinking of ways to make the city better.”
Councilmember Christensen, who describes herself as totally independent and not beholden to any political group or interest, told the audiene that she ran primarily because she did not want to allow someone to get into the city council without an election, and that she did not want the city council not to have a woman present in its midst.
Christensen also elicited some applause from the audience as she laid out a proposal for term limits for city council members and for a standard rotation to be applied to the city’s mayorship, with the councilmember not having been appointed mayor for the longest time being named as the city’s chief executive.
She also told the audience that she will be writing a newsletter called “Report to the People” which will inform Daly City residents about the goings-on in the city.
“I will put the good of the community first,” Christensen said. “And I will continue to ask the tough questions that need to be answered.”
The night was bittersweet for many as outgoing Councilmember Carol Klatt had her last day in office as the 52nd Daly City Council came to a close.
Klatt, who is moving with her husband to live close to her son who recently underwent a medical procedure, told everyone that it was difficult for her to write a speech or pin her thoughts down.
“It’s been a great 21 years,” said Klatt. “I don’t know what to say. I’m going to miss Daly City.”
The woman whom outgoing Mayor David Canepa described as “Mrs. Daly City,” while battling back tears, revealed that although she is sad to be moving away, she has her eyes set on the homeowner’s association in her new neighborhood, which coincidentally has no woman in its roster of officers.
“That is going to change,” Klatt declared, which elicited laughter and cheers.
Klatt, upon Canepa’s request, received a standing ovation and applause from those present.
Prior to the closing session of the 52nd Daly City Council, the outgoing mayor handed two awards out – the Mayor’s Citizen of the Year Award to longtime Westlake resident and Burgermeister owner Paul Mogannam and the Mayor’s Outstanding Youth of the Year Award to Jada Rivera.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(NYNJ December 5-11, 2014 Sec. A pg.4)
