In the wake of recent news to start the year – yes, we’re all thumbs.

Thumbs-up: To the 2019 Mountain View City Council, which saw three newly elected members sworn in last week, along with the appointment of a new mayor and vice mayor. As mayor, Lisa Matichak brings a level-headed approach to leadership, while newcomers Ellen Kamei, Lucas Ramirez and Alison Hicks all come highly qualified to carry on the business of this high-profile city.

Being a city council member isn’t for the timid. Departing Los Altos Councilman Jean Mordo put it best a few weeks back as he left the dais: You’re a hero or a wretch, depending on how you vote on a particular issue.

Newly elected councilwomen Anita Enander and Neysa Fligor will find out soon. Newly appointed Mayor Lynette Lee Eng is well aware, having served nearly two years. But, as mayor, she will be under increased scrutiny as the face of Los Altos in the eyes of the media and surrounding communities. She will need to exercise decorum and diplomacy in her new role.

Some might dismiss it as a Town Crier Police Blotter item, a sad but insignificant story – a young man found dead in his car Dec. 14 outside the McDonald’s restaurant on El Monte Avenue in Mountain View near the Los Altos border.

Local media covered the story and used it to highlight the systemic failure of the area’s jobs-to-housing imbalance. The high cost of living is not only making it difficult to live here, it’s also making it difficult to work here.

We are pleading with the Bullis Charter School and Los Altos School District boards: Whatever you do, do not go back down the road of litigation. If you do, we all will lose.

We understand that communication between the two sides has been rocky lately, as Bullis Charter School still lacks an acceptable facilities solution. We also realize that both sides think they’re in the right. But pursuing legal action (which Bullis Charter School can do after a five-year agreement not to sue expires next spring) is just going to stir up more animosity and more division.

Alex Samek had barely latched onto his new role as chairman of the Los Altos Planning Commission when he was arrested for a DUI Nov. 30 after being spotted asleep on Highway 101 in his self-driving Tesla. The story played big on nightly newscasts and even made headlines nationwide.

Understandably, Samek has laid low following what must be an embarrassing incident for him. But hopefully sooner rather than later, he faces the music. He can start by apologizing to city council members, who appointed him, and his fellow commissioners for putting them in a difficult position. He clearly made a mistake, one that could have been deadly. We hope he has learned a painful lesson about drinking and driving, and he is very lucky the result wasn’t tragic.

Congratulations to the selfless volunteers who make the downtown Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade happen every year. This year’s wonderful event benefited from great weather, with performers and spectators alike clearly enjoying themselves.

The parade is arguably the most popular community event of the year, so there’s competition for choice viewing spots. For years, people have reserved spaces many hours in advance, some even the day before the parade. They’ve done so by setting out blankets and chairs, and marking spaces on the sidewalk with tape or chalk.