by Peter Gauvin
One minute Sandy Eakins was sitting on the red cushioned seats in the City Council chambers with the rest of the public Tuesday night. The next minute she was seated at the council dais looking out at the public as Palo Alto's newest council member. It took only two rounds of voting to separate Eakins from the six other candidates that had applied to fill the seat left by Joe Simitian when he moved on to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
Eakins edged out fellow Planning Commissioner Victor Ojakian, five votes to three, on the second ballot. The split resulted from a difference of opinion over whether Eakins' inability to vote on Stanford's Sand Hill Road projects should be a factor. The small computer company Eakins runs with her husband sold $750 of software to Stanford last May, which precludes her from voting on any Stanford issues for one year.
On the first ballot Eakins received four votes from council members Liz Kniss, Lanie Wheeler, Micki Schneider and Gary Fazzino. They cited her active background in the city and the importance of having a southeast Palo Alto resident on the council.
"I don't want to minimize the importance of the Sand Hill issue," Wheeler said, "but I believe no one single issue should eliminate any potential candidate . . . particularly since I am sure the ultimate Sand Hill vote will be cast by the public."
Ojakian received three votes--from Vice Mayor Ron Andersen, Council member Dick Rosenbaum and Mayor Joe Huber, all of whom said it was important to have a full council that can vote on the Sand Hill projects. The new council member's term is only for 11 months and "we'll be dealing with Sand Hill for a substantial portion of that time," Rosenbaum said.
Environmental and transportation activist Dena Mossar, who also could not vote on the Sand Hill projects because her husband works for Stanford, received one vote from Council member Jean McCown on the first ballot.
"We've had a number of previous council members who've had conflicts of interest with Stanford," including Alan Henderson, Larry Klein and Mike Cobb, McCown said.
On the second ballot, McCown voted for Eakins, giving her a clear majority over Ojakian.
Eakins, 59, has paid her dues in service to the community. She has served on the Planning Commission for the past 18 months, she was co-chair of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee and formerly served on the Public Art Commission. She will need to run for re-election in November.
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