I Was a Bureaucrat

My career spans many different industries, and my most memorable has to do with working for a municipal corporation.  That's right - I was a bureaucrat.  I appreciated it, but I wouldn't do it again.

I worked for the City of Palo Alto in the City Clerk's Office, supporting the Mayor's Office, for more than 6 years.  I learned many, many things such as public meetings, elections, the Sunshine Law, required postings, record keeping, and preserving history.  There are stories that I recall with a smile, like the time when I led elementary school tours of City Hall, through the Council Chambers and up the elevators to the Mayor's Office.

When I first started working there, I remember being very nervous about taking dictation from the Vice Mayor for a memo about changing the parking time limit in Downtown from 1 hour to 2 hours. I know shorthand, and so it was a piece of cake.  When I think back, I realize that such tasks were part of history.  It may be trivial to you that the signs in Downtown Palo Alto say 2-hour parking, but I know the history behind it.  I still remember that the Vice Mayor's main reason to advocate 2-hour parking was so that patrons could stay longer and spend more money.

I also remember that the Mayor led the City Council that year to ban smoking in public places.  That was interesting because the Mayor smoked, was the only smoker on the Council, and passed away a few years later.  Banning smoking was historical, and I was there to help codify it into Palo Ato's book of ordinances.  It was the first municipal corporation in the State of California to do so.

There were many other actions Palo Alto took  that told the world it was and is a forward thinking, progressive city.  It was the first city and the second governmental body (next to the White House) to be on the internet.  It invested in a ring of fiber network around the city.  This might be trivial to you because fiber networks are known and are becoming more accessible as utility companies dig up the ground and install them in an area near you.  However, they were almost unheard of back in the late 1990s.  So Palo Alto slapped down a fiber network way before its time - very forward thinking.

They also were in favor of using photovoltaic panels and were planning to install them strategically at various city facilities.  You know these photovoltaic panels by their more common name - solar panels.  Palo Alto was already installing them years before they became a popular energy alternative source.

Palo Alto made another mark in history when it created the first domestic registry in the United States.  I remember when that was voted by the City Council into place.  I don't think there was any opposition.  The new process involved solely our office.  If a couple wanted to declare domestic partnership, they would come to the City Clerk's Office to register.  We would issue a certificate, complete with the city logo embossed on a gold seal tailed with red and green ribbons.  I am in some of the photos of the happy couples.  Domestic meant that the couple could be a man and a woman, a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.  We had all those mixes of couples register.  That was a fun, historical and memorable time for me.  Again, this was back in the late 1990s.  We provided a stepping stone for and a place where gay and lesbian couples can go to long before the issue that it is today - recognizing marriage for such couples.

Palo Alto also cared about aesthetics.  When I joined, I learned about underground utility districts and their purpose.  The utilities were undergrounded, one area at a time.  So you don't see power poles and ugly power lines that interfere with the beauty and flow of the trees.  It's funny that Palo Alto literally means tall stick in Spanish, since Palo Alto is considered a Tree City USA place.  There are many beautiful trees that line the neighborhood streets.  Many houses there are ideal, with active participation in preserving historical homes and neighborhoods.

You might also spot celebrities as many of them reside in Palo Alto.  I have seen a few 49ers.  Steve Young came to apply for a variance permit one time because he wanted to have a fence built around his home that exceeded the height limit.  I managed to meet him and get an autograph, which was quite an intentional effort because everyone at city hall knew he would be there.  And I'm not even a 49er fan.

But the real celebrities who help make Palo Alto such an attractive place to live and work in and influence the forward thinking probably come from neighboring and unincorporated Stanford.  After all, the university has educated some of the smartest entrepreneurs and leaders in the world.  Ah, Palo Alto. 

But I digress.  Why wouldn't I want to be a bureaucrat again? 

While Palo Alto was making its marks and place in history, I was making my mark in Palo Alto. You will find my works there, in the domestic partner registry, as I registered domestic partners and signed the certificates and log books.  I also wrote many proclamations and resolutions that congratulated city retirees or recognized accomplishments of the city's citizens or declared a celebratory day in the city.  I sat in committee meetings, recorded the proceedings, took supplemental notes, and transcribed the minutes. I helped keep the records, stay in compliance, help the Clerk's Office become more technical.

There are numerous stories that I can tell about the time I spent working for the City of Palo Alto.  There are so many memories, mostly good.  There were a variety of characters, including co-workers and members of the public.  We had a drive-thru Mayor one year.  Someone jumped off the rooftop of the building across from city hall another year.  I could blog about the events and people all day long.  I almost can't stop.

I am digressing again.  So why wouldn't I want to be a bureaucrat again?  The answer for me is simple.  The pace in government, even at progressive, forward thinking Palo Alto, is too slow for me.