Pear voted in as mayor Pear voted in as mayor (January 16, 2004)

Neely second in command

By Julie O'Shea

In a packed City Council chambers and with his parents sitting proudly in the front row, Matt Pear, was unanimously voted the next mayor of Mountain View on Tuesday.

Matt Neely, just as easily, slid into the vice mayor slot.

"It's going to be Matt times two," laughed Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss, who attended the meeting to bid farewell to outgoing mayor Mike Kasperzak.

Pear, an independent consultant, and Neely, an assistant principal, will hold these ceremonial positions until January 2005.

"I am most appreciative to Mountain View voters," Pear, a city native, said after assuming the mayor's seat on the council dais.

"I am honored to serve as mayor," he continued. "To be mayor is a great privilege."

A graduate of Los Altos High School, and later from Stanford and UC Berkeley, Pear grew up in Mountain View, just down the street from the house he's owned since the early 1980s. First voted to serve on the council three years ago, Pear, 45, is up for reelection in November and says he plans to run again.

Pear presented Kasperzak with a mounted, bronzed mayor's gavel and a resolution of appreciation.

"Out with the old and in with the new," Kasperzak told the crowd inside council chambers. "Thank you for allowing me to do this over the last year -- thank you."

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