A major development, inexplicably not yet covered by the local print media, happened at the May 21 Golden Valley City Council meeting. Two long-time council members, Paula Pentel and DeDe Scanlon, announced that they will not be running for reelection in November.
Paula Pentel and DeDe Scanlon have been outstanding public servants for many years. Paula Pentel is completing nine years on the council. Before that she served 12 years on the Golden Valley Planning Commission, seven of those as chair. She has been intimately involved in every major governmental and development project in Golden Valley in the last two decades. Her expertise, wisdom and foresight have helped preserve Golden Valley as an outstanding place to live and work, and made it better. She has worked tirelessly for countless hours on our behalf, and deserves the gratitude of every Golden Valley citizen.
DeDe Scanlon has served for eight years on the council, providing an anchor of common sense as the council has wrestled with the many contentious issues that have come before it during her tenure. She has consistently had the courage of her convictions, insisting that city government be a true servant of the residents of Golden Valley in its areas of primary responsibility – streets, public safety, parks and recreation, and the like. Her steady hand and reasonable voice have made sure that Golden Valley has maintained and enhanced its reputation as a great place to live.
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While my wife and I sometimes did not agree with Paula and/or DeDe on a particular issue, we always knew that every position either took was well-considered and had the best interests of all the citizens of Golden Valley as its touchstone. The experience and wisdom of these two council members has been particularly critical in the last year and a half, as the city council has gone through a transition with two new members in 2011, including a new mayor, and a new council member appointed in 2012. Paula and DeDe worked hard to keep the city on an even keel and focused on the right things as the new members learned about city government and their roles. Their guidance will continue to be important as they finish out their terms this year.
During her announcement at the May 21 council meeting, Paula made a plea that city elections continue to be non-partisan, noting that the function of city government is to serve the needs of all the people for basic municipal services. Like most of us, both DeDe and Paula have partisan preferences, but they never let them intrude on their service to Golden Valley. Unfortunately, party politics and partisan influence have invaded elections at all levels (for instance, the recent District 2 Hennepin County Commissioner race), and the 2011 Golden Valley municipal election had an unwelcome partisan flavor. Let us hope that Paula's call to non-partisanship is heeded in the coming election.