Former school board member John Root is the newest addition to the Burlingame City Council after the council chose him as a replacement for retired councilman Jerry Deal at Monday night’s meeting.
Root, who was a former candidate for council, was selected from a pool of eight applicants — including Ross Bruce, Russ Cohen, John Eaton, Pat Giorni, John Martos, Laurie Simonson and Eric Storey — after interviews held last week. The replacement needed at least three votes from the council who used ballots rather than roll call to make their choice.
“All of the eight applicants were impressive,” said Mayor Michael Brownrigg.
The three votes came from Brownrigg, Councilman Ricardo Ortiz and Vice Mayor Terry Nagel. Councilwoman Ann Keighran voted for Simonson.
“I did appreciate the process we utilized with this,” Keighran said. “It’s going to be a difficult choice for this council. Kudos to all of you and your hard work.”
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Root, who is retired and has lived in Burlingame for 37 years, grew up in Los Gatos and managed the Cow Palace in the 1970s and 1980s before going on to manage the San Mateo Expo Center until 2003. He was a trustee for the Burlingame Elementary School District, was one of the Burlingame Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and was a San Mateo County Board of Education trustee before running for Burlingame City Council in 2005. In the 2005 election, he conceded after trailing behind former councilwoman Cathy Baylock by only a handful of votes.
“I’ve been active in the community over the years,” Root said. “In this town you can really make a difference.”
The city was required to fill Deal’s vacancy within 60 days of Deal’s Sept. 21 resignation — Nov. 20 — because the council opted for an appointment rather than a special election in March, which would have carried a $190,000 price tag. The city held a public forum at City Hall with public comment on Oct. 15 to conduct interviews for the position.
Deal’s seat will be up in November 2015 and Root said he doesn’t intend to run in that election.
Deal announced his intention to depart in July after seven years on the council to move with his wife JoAnn to Oregon. He will keep his office for his design firm J Deal Associates in Burlingame.
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