Kathy Narum Takes Oath of Office For the City Council

By Autumn Johnson

Kathy Narum was sworn in as a councilmember for the City of Pleasanton during the city council meeting on May 21. Narum, who beat Mark Hamilton, David Miller, Olivia Sanwong in the vote-by-mail election on May 7, is filling the seat vacated by Jerry Thorne after he won the mayoral race last November. 

Federal Court Judge Lawrence O'Neill of the U.S. District Court traveled from Fresno to give Narum her oath.

After taking the oath, Narum addressed the group and gave the following speech:

"Thank you! First, I want to thank my family for their support of my desire to serve on the city council. As has been said many times before, you can’t be a candidate without the support of your family. I’m appreciative and grateful for the support from my husband Jeff of almost 34 years...  I hate to even think about how many dinners he had out of a cereal box during the campaign! Once our daughters Jen and Lisa, both Foothill grads,  got over the color choice for my yard signs, they were both excited with the idea of their mother running for election and wanted to be here today. They both flew in last night from the east coast and unfortunately leave in the morning to return to their jobs. Given air travel today, I’m very appreciative of them wanting to make such a quick trip to be here tonight.
Some of you may have met my mother tonight.  Both she and my father were role models for my brother, sister and I about the importance of community service.  My mother is currently a Library Commissioner in the City of San Leandro. My father served over 30 years on the Board of Zoning Adjustments and Planning Commission in San Leandro.  I know that he is proud tonight first that I would attempt to run for office and second be successful.  Unfortunately, my sister and brother couldn’t be here tonight but my brother’s wife, Kellee, and their son, Jack, are here.  I appreciate their support.
Thank you to long-time family friends Judge Larry O’Neill and his wife Kathy for making the trip from Fresno to be here tonight. It makes today all that more special I also want to acknowledge and thank the other three candidates who ran in this election and contributed to a spirited discussion.  We may have differed in our views on different issues but it was evident that we all shared the same goal of doing what is best for Pleasanton.
I want to thank the many residents who supported me by having a yard sign, writing letters to the editor, walking their neighborhood distributing campaign doorhangers, waving signs on street corners among other activities.  I am honored by your support.  

And I had the best co-campaign managers who kept me focused on the issues and the residents of Pleasanton throughout the campaign, Nancy Allen and Jennifer Pearce.  A huge thank-you to both of you.  Also, a huge thank-you to my treasurer Arne Olson.  He did a great job keeping me on budget and managing the sidebar conversations of three women!
One of the best things about the campaign was meeting residents and having conversations with them. Thru the course of the campaign I learned a lot about our City and how it came to be what it is today.
To the residents who voted for me,  thank you for entrusting me with the privilege to represent you on the City Council.  To those that didn’t, I’m going to work hard to earn your support by being accessible, listening and transparent in my decision making.
I am looking forward to using my past years of varied civic experiences to solve problems and to forge new ideas along with the Mayor and fellow council members.  Good governance is important to me.  I am committed to respectful debate while striving for consensus by building on points of agreement.  When there are disagreements, for me, its going to be about the issues and not the personalities involved in the discussion.   Above all, I’m committed to transparency in the  decision making process.
Again, thank you to all of you for being here tonight and also to those who have helped me over the last several months to get to this point. Now it's time for me to begin working with my fellow councilmembers to continue to keep Pleasanton great."
Do you have something you want to tell Narum now that she is representing Pleasanton? Tell us in the comments section below.