Local government needs women need to step up Local government needs women need to step up (December 12, 2003)

The inception of women in politics has not been easily won anywhere, least of all in Mountain View. Although most people, men and women alike, agree in parity of the sexes, the representation of women in leadership has not been impressive.

Of 100 U.S. Senators, 14 are women and of 435 Representatives, 59 are women. Against those odds, Mountain View is represented by three women in Washington, D.C.

But it took 71 years, since Mountain View was incorporated in 1902, for a woman to get elected to the city council. Since Judith Moss took the oath of office in 1973, at least one woman has served on the Mountain View city council at all times. In fact, there have been at least two women serving continuously since 1976.

A few of these women have made particularly memorable marks on the city - Pat Figueroa who served for 18 years, Maryce Freelen, the namesake of one of the city's affordable housing complexes, and Sally Lieber, now a state Assembly member.

The city is fortunate now to have among its seven council members Mary Lou Zoglin and Rosemary Stasek, both respected for their leadership and reasonable approaches to the city's problems.

Having each served for seven consecutive years, the two are being termed out of office at the end of 2004. While that deadline is still a year away, several women with political interests in Mountain View are wisely considering a bid for their seats.

They realize that if a female candidate does not succeed in the 2004 election, the Mountain View city council will look like it did when Judith Moss first ran in 1968.

It doesn't make much sense for a progressive and diverse city like Mountain View to not have at least one or two women on the city council. While the city has had a thin record of electing ethnic minorities to its highest governing body, electing women has been and should be a no-brainer.

In the last two elections, it hasn't been that way. While Zoglin and Stasek were re-elected in 2000, Nancy Noe was not re-elected in the same year and no new woman has been elected to the council since 1998.

But while Mountain View is in need of leadership that better represents its citizens, it always needs to elect leaders who are fully committed, communicative and qualified.

It is encouraging to see several women showing early interest in running for council. Hopefully, they will prove to be candidates with the qualifications and experience needed to carry on the tradition of women in local government.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.