Who will be vice mayor of Millbrae?

At the essence of the issue was a vote last year by councilmembers to appoint Wayne Lee as vice mayor, breaking protocol which would have put Schneider in the post since she was the highest vote getter in the most recent election.

For his part, Lee would not to speculate on the outcome of the upcoming vote but said he would be willing to serve as mayor if selected by a majority of his colleagues.

“We need a mayor and if the council wants me to be mayor, I will be mayor,” said Lee.

When asked whether he would support Schneider’s appointment to vice mayor, Lee was less certain, claiming more discussion of the issue is likely in order.

“There’s a lot of implications,” he said. “I don’t know. It can go both ways.”

Schneider, meanwhile, doubled down on her interest in serving as vice mayor, characterizing the appointment as her right as well as the will of the electorate.

“I am hopeful that my fellow City Council members will recognize that the community wants rotation done by the vote and that they understand we need to heal in Millbrae and that by making me vice mayor is the right way to help Millbrae come together,” she said.

The issue became a regular point of discussion during Millbrae City Council meetings over the last year, as residents would frequently take time during public comment to push for Schneider’s appointment. An online petition was also established to collect support for her becoming the vice mayor.

Her colleagues though claim protocol is merely a suggestion which can be abandoned when deemed appropriate by officials, as was the case in their decision to jump Schneider with Lee.

In defense of their vote, some councilmembers suggested Schneider was guilty of conduct unbecoming of an elected official and said she did not deserve to be on track for mayor.

In retrospect, Lee suggested those comments may have been out of line but were shared in the interest of transparency to help community members understand why protocol was abandoned.

“It was humiliating for Councilwoman Schneider and I have a lot of regret about that,” he said.

In an effort to mend the relationships fractured by the appointment, Lee claims he has asked Schneider to meet and discuss the matter only be have his offer rebuffed. Schneider disagreed with such a summation.

“Wayne, stop lying,” said Schneider, who claims she has met with Lee and also has multiple email conversations proving him to be unresponsive to her requests to bury the hatchet.

She countered that perspective though by acknowledging that all sides shared some blame in the dysfunction.

“Maybe I haven’t done as much as I can in reaching out to talk about areas where we can be on the same page,” she said.

To that end, both Lee and Schneider called for officials establishing a greater sense of unity in the coming year.

“I know there is a lot of bad feelings from Councilwoman Schneider, so I would like to hope that we could all get past that,” he said. “There’s plenty of blame to go around.”

Schneider shared a similar perspective, and said she is ultimately interested in serving the community’s best interest.

“Whatever happens, I’m going to work on things that are important to the people of Millbrae,” she said.

But, if not appointed to vice mayor, Schneider suggested she may pursue another means to prevent future breaks from protocol — such as seeking to establish independently-elected mayors in Millbrae.

“If they screw me tomorrow, I’m collecting signatures in the new year,” she said Monday. “And I think I’ve got the public behind me on that.”

The Millbrae City Council meets 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, in the Chetcuti Room adjacent to City Hall.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 105