The color guard marched, and a soloist sang the anthem. But the pomp and circumstance of this year's city hall inauguration was overshadowed by the jet crash in University City, and a multi-million dollar budget deficit.
There has been another changing of the political guard, at city hall. And the four new city council members -- Sherri Lightner, Todd Gloria,Carl DeMaio and Marti Emerald face a harsh financial reality.
They must cut city services, raise taxes, or do a combination of both. And Mayor Jerry Sanders says they must look out for the entire city, not just their districts.
"You know, what it really amounts to is the public doesn't care about individual (council members)," Sanders said, "They care about what you collectively do, and I think we've heard from the community very clearly. They want to work together to solve city problems.
The new City Attorney says he'll be a team player. Jan Goldsmith replaces Mike Aguirre, one of the most controversial elected officials in recent history.
The retired judge presided over his first council meeting, just hours after the inauguration.
He promised to be courteous and attentive, and says he will suggest solutions, instead of demanding immediately changes.
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"Those are (things) a professional does, rather than simply standing on a podium and accusing people of bad things," Goldsmith said. ne political analyst says it will very different approach compared to Aguirre, who sometimes held two or more news conferences a week.
"Any time there was any type of event (former City Attorney Aguirre) was there before the mayor and council member for that district. People don't like that. They want their city attorney to be a city attorney, and they're got a good pick in Judge Goldsmith."
