"I want to make sure as early as possible that people know I'm not running again," Kline said. He said this allows potential candidates to commit to running, knowing they won't be going up against an incumbent.

Kline has purchased a home in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose, where he grew up. "I couldn't commit to another term, but I'll be here in Saratoga through my tenure as mayor."

This is the final year of Kline's first four-year term on the council. Councilman Nick Streit and Councilwoman Kathleen King also have terms ending in November. Streit is finishing his second term. Although he could seek a third term, he is expected to follow precedent and not run for re-election. Streit did not confirm that by press time.

Vice Mayor Aileen Kao and Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith are not up for re-election this year. Their terms expire in November 2008.

This means that King will be the only incumbent running for a council seat this year.

"Won't it be fun?" King said. "I'm going to really miss Norman. He brought a lot of knowledge to Saratoga. Nick has done all the garbage, the water, the sewer. Talk about thankless work in a city. I'm sure he'll be doing some kind of community service beyond November."

Last year the council was involved in several contentious issues. Decisions such as allowing Starbucks Coffee to open a store in the Village, allowing a soccer field in Kevin Moran Park and planning to sell the city's North Campus property made for many late night meetings and plenty of arguments.

King voted in favor of Starbucks, the soccer field and the property sale. She said the votes were difficult ones that put her on the receiving end of criticism from her opponents on those issues. But, she said it is still too early in the year to speculate on how her decisions will play into the election campaign later in the year. "I would like to just get through what we're going through right now," she said.

King is working on revitalizing the economic climate in the Saratoga Village. She is also working with Kline on getting Assembly Bill 117 passed in Sacramento. If passed, the bill will return about $1.4 million a year to the city's General Fund from Tax Equity Allocation funds that are currently going to the county of Santa Clara. "There's no way we could improve our revenue stream any better way than this," she said.

Although city council seats will not be open until November, the upcoming California primary and local elections on June 6 have now become important to the Saratoga political scene. The city council voted 3-2 on Jan. 4 to sell the city's North Campus property to developer Mike Masoumi for $7 million. However, a group of concerned citizens began a petition drive for a referendum on the decision. If the group gathers 2,000 signatures, a referendum on the sale would go on the November ballot, making the North Campus a central issue in the election.

The North Campus property has been center of controversy ever since the city bought it from the Grace United Methodist Church for $4.5 million in 2002. When the original plans to move the Saratoga Senior Center to the property fell through, the council divided into two factions over what to do with the vacant property. Kline, Streit and King favored selling it, while Kao and Waltonsmith favored retaining it for public use.

The council decided to preempt the petition drive for a referendum on the sale by putting the decision to the voters on the June ballot. Saratogans will now vote on Measure J on June 6 to decide whether the city should sell the land.

Council members hope by placing Measure J on the June ballot, the North Campus issue will be decided. Thus, the divisive issue would not be a factor in election campaigns for open council seats in November.

El Camino Hospital