Walnut Creek mayor to depart after 21 years on council

The giant hole in the ground Gwen Regalia can see from her City Hall office window is what the Walnut Creek mayor was waiting for.

The hole, which will transform into the home of the new library, is how she knows after 21 years of service it's time to step down.

"You know, I said after the last election that I would leave after we had the library. Well, we are getting the library," Regalia said.

Now under construction, the library should open in 2010.

A tale of two Peratas

For Don Perata, it truly has been the best of times and the worst of times.

The Oakland lawmaker's four years as state Senate president pro tem, arguably California's most powerful elected Democrat, showed much of the ambition that had fueled the one-time schoolteacher's climb from the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to the Assembly to the Senate.

Now, term-limited out of office, he'll leave the Capitol for a consulting stint and perhaps a run for Oakland mayor in 2010. In retrospect, his pro tem tenure yields moments that made him and his supporters either stand up and cheer or cringe and wince.

Dominoes fall as lawmakers prepare to take office for next session

SACRAMENTO — If there's one upgrade Senator-elect Mark DeSaulnier is looking forward to, it's the daylight he will have in his new office.

DeSaulnier, a Concord Democrat elected to the Senate after two years with a windowless Assembly office, will finally have a view of the outdoors as he moves to the upper chamber.

"There are no cavelike offices in the Senate, even for Republicans," said DeSaulnier, who essentially switched seats with term-limited Tom Torlakson, who returns to the Assembly for one final two-year term. "I like natural light."