Newbie ready to tackle council

While Grassilli may not have sat on the council when the matters first hit its radar, the former planning commissioner thinks he will have little problem hitting the ground running.

"Having run on these issues they’re all really fresh so Brad and Matt and I are in a really good situation,” he said, referring to fellow newcomer Brad Lewis and Councilman Matt Grocott who is expected to become mayor Monday.

Grocott received the most votes followed by Lewis and Grassilli.

Neither Lewis nor Grassilli are completely inexperienced with local government despite their freshman status on the council. Lewis sits on the Parks and Recreation Commission and Grassilli spent six years on the Planning Commission. The trouble, Grassilli said, will be adapting to the council’s way of doing things rather than feeling up to speed on the issues.

In the weeks since Election Night, Grassilli hasn’t sat on his laurels. There are department heads to interview, documents to read, athletic fields meetings to attend. He hasn’t had a chance to walk Devonshire Canyon but it’s definitely on his to-do list.

"I’m just trying to gather all the information I can,” Grassilli said. "We just got our agenda packet last night and I was already down at City Hall meeting with [City Manager] Mark Weiss.”

Even before his election, Grassilli, like the others, identified the South County Fire Authority as a primary concern. He is on Grocott’s short list for appointment to the board on Monday night and welcomes the opportunity to keep the authority together with Belmont.

He also hopes the city is able to space the issues out a bit so the council can devote its entire attention to them.

"It’s just a matter of time. There are so many things and we really need to schedule it out,” he said.

Grassilli’s background in planning and finance give him a unique body of experience from which to draw but he admits government accounting is different.

"Every dollar is precious but I’m used to signing the checks as a CFO. Now, I don’t sign these checks. I just approve them,” he said.

While Grassilli expects to be fairly educated by the time each topic is before him, he doesn’t plan to shy away from clarifying anything.

"I’m pretty deliberate. I will ask questions,” he said. "If it looks stupid, that’s my problem.”

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.