Wachtel Hands Over Mayoral Keys to Lion – and Many Others

For the better part of 2010, Mill Valley City Councilman Ken Wachtel eagerly showed anyone who asked his iPhone app that displayed an hourglass countdown of the days, hours and minutes until as part of the council’s annual rotation.

With his year-long stint as mayor coming to a close Monday night and with tongue firmly in cheek, Wachtel reluctantly passed the baton to new Mayor Garry Lion Monday night. He dubbed it “peaceful turnover of power” night and frequently joked about maintaining his grasp on the top spot for another year.

Wachtel said he was proud of City Hall’s accomplishments over the past year, including of the Miller Avenue Streetscape Plan, maintaining a stable budget, of council and planning commission meetings and the .

“We are truly a good group together and we all should reflect on how lucky we are that we have each other in this job,” Wachtel said of the council. “I complete this term as mayor with a sense of accomplishment for the council and the city.”

The outgoing mayor gave each of his colleagues Nutcracker dolls with aptly chosen names, as well as mayoral keys to the city, which he doled out to a number of people throughout the night. Wachtel then received a number of gifts from his colleagues, including a clock to indicate that “time moves on and mayoral terms end,” joked Lion, who included progress on the city’s overhaul of its General Plan, updating downtown zoning ordinances and creating a customer service culture at City Hall among his priorities for the year.

During Councilman Andy Berman’s lengthy turn to festoon Wachtel in praise, Wachtel said, “I’ve kind of lost control here.”

“You’ve never had it really,” joked Councilmember Shawn Marshall.

Each councilmember said they valued both the hard work and the levity that Wachtel brought to the job.

“You never do anything without a sense of humor,” Marshall said. “I’ve enjoyed watching you be mayor this year because you love it and there’s nothing better than watching someone do something they love. It suits you well.”

Marshall and Councilmember Stephanie Moulton-Peters proceeded to “knight” Wachtel with a toy light saber in honor of Wachtel’s past council meeting theatrics.

The recently re-elected Wachtel had the last laugh, however, saying he was looking forward to his next term as mayor in three years. And he’s already revived the app: “As they say in movies, I’ll be back - in exactly 1,097 days 22 hours, 58 minutes and 9 seconds.”