By Elizabeth Cloutman

Los Altos Hills Mayor Toni Casey’s late October announcement that she had taken a full-time job in Washington, D.C., while remaining a city council member has drawn criticism from some residents, concerned that she will be unable to carry out all the duties of office. Other residents, as well as three other council members, said they do not believe her new position will impede her effectiveness in office.

When Casey accepted her position as director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Small Business Administration headquarters, she became the second city council member to have a full-time job out of state. Council Member Steve Finn serves as CEO of the Trust Company of America in Englewood, Colo., a Denver suburb.

Casey said she is confident that she can carry out her duties during her term of office, which ends in November 2000. “I have traveled with other jobs in the past. With faxes and teleconferencing and new technology, this should not be a big issue. I don’t expect to miss any more council meetings than I have in my 11 years as a council member. I’m available as I have ever been, responding to e-mail and voice mail within 24 hours. We have an excellent staff to deal with the day-to-day management of our town. I personally have never had a single resident complain of my not being accessible.”

Casey did not reply to the question of how often she would return to Los Altos Hills. Finn has said in the past that he commutes back from Colorado every weekend.

Casey was unable to attend the Nov. 1 council meeting because she was on a business trip to Oklahoma City. She also was unable to attend the League of Cities meeting last week. Council Member Mike O’Malley, who is Casey’s backup, took her place at the League of Cities meeting, but said it was normal procedure for a council member to act as a substitute liaison when the primary liaison is occasionally unable to attend.

Past mayors Elayne Dauber and Sid Hubbard noted that council members not only are required to attend council meetings, but are expected to sit on boards of at least two major outside organizations and at least one town committee or subcommittee. They expressed their concern that a long-distance commute would make it difficult for Casey to carry out all her responsibilities. “With two council members unavailable for extra meetings, the burden will either fall on the three other members, or, more likely, we just won’t be represented,” Dauber said. Council members O’Malley and Bob Fenwick said they spend about 10-15 hours a week on council business. Finn did not respond to an inquiry as to how many hours he spent on his council duties.

Residents Scott Vanderlip, Diane Barrager, Sandy Humphries, Dot Schreiner, Denise Williams, Bill Downey and Bob Lefkowits agreed with Dauber and Hubbard. Only Leftkowits commented on any difficulty reaching Casey. “If you disagree with her, you will not get the time of day from her, whether she is in Washington, D.C., or in your living room.”

Vanderlip also noted, “Many issues in the town are property issues (which also require) a site visit to obtain firsthand knowledge.” He added, “What has happened in the past year is that many council meetings were canceled for the convenience of (Finn), so that only one meeting was scheduled per month, which made for very long meetings when they did occur.”

Residents Roger Summit, Amir Rosenbaum and Charlene Geers said they don’t think Casey’s new job will interfere with her performance as a council member. Summit noted that voters were aware of Finn’s job in Colorado when he ran for office. “To think a council member has to be available to be contacted or view a site 24 hours a day denigrates the job,” Geers said. Rosenbaum added, “(Casey) cares an awful lot about what she does … If something happened (that would interfere with her council duties), she would hand over the reins immediately.”

Finn, Fenwick and O’Malley said they do not feel Casey’s out-of-state job was a problem. “Let us measure the council members, based upon effectiveness and results. Prior members of the council, while in town a lot more, may or may not fare as well,” Finn said. Council Member Emily Cheng had not responded by deadline.

City Manager Maureen Cassingham said she also thought a mayor should not be expected to be “strapped in town. That’s why you have a mayor pro tem. The (town) staff has day-to-day responsibilities.”