One year in the life of a mayor

Turlock's Lazar says job is a full-time commitment

By MICHAEL R. SHEA
mshea@modbee.com

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TURLOCK -- More than any other group, city staff has Mayor John Lazar's ear, but the Chamber of Commerce, the university and ceremonial duties also take up a substantial amount of his time, a review of the mayor's 2007 calendar shows.

Scheduling is heavy, and September through November is blocked out twice a week and Saturdays for his sons' soccer practices and games. If the dates weren't in his Outlook calendar, the city would have something else for him to do, the mayor said.

"It's a full-time job," he said recently over coffee at Latif's Restaurant. "I say that all the time, but I don't think people really believe it. I enjoy it, and fortunately with my career, my profession, I'm flexible to do much of it. It still is work to fit it into business life and family life."

Modesto Bee - John Lazar, candidate for re-election to the Turlock City Council. (Debbie Noda/The Modesto Bee).

A real estate agent, Lazar fits city business in most days of the week, but Friday is his "all city" day, when he often meets with residents, business owners or anyone who wants to sit and chat. Other than the city manager and department heads, Sharon Silva, president of the Chamber of Commerce, probably takes up most of that time.

"I'm trying to re-establish the relationship the chamber had with the city," Lazar said. "For whatever reason, the chamber and the city grew apart in my last year as a councilman, and frankly their endorsement of my opponent (Kurt Vander Weide in the 2006 election) didn't help anything either."

Meetings with Silva have ramped up this year, too, he said, because he appointed her co-chairwoman of the Centennial Committee, which is responsible for dozens of events related to the city's 100th birthday.

"Fortunately for us, John and I have a strong relationship, and we were able to put past issues aside and move the relationship forward together," Silva said.

The mayor's 2007 calendar shows meetings with former Mayor Curt Andre and California State University, Stanislaus, President Hamid Shirvani, both of whom Lazar counts as friends, as well as with residents, a few people with development pitches and some seemingly odd requests.

One resident designed an alarm system for mailboxes and was working on getting a patent. He wanted to show the mayor how it works.

The calendar illustrates some travel. The city spent $5,555 on La-zar for a week in Washington, D.C., a week in Los Angeles at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a weekend in Monterey with the California League of Cities.

Milt Richards, athletic director at the university, met with Lazar several times. Why so many meetings?

"His wife is running for office," Lazar said, laughing. "I call him Bill Clinton. He's very vivacious, a schmoozer. He's just a fun guy."

Richards' wife, Amy Bublak, is on the planning commission and lost bids for the council in 1990 and 2006. She plans to run in November. Richards is on the mosquito abatement board, and La-zar spoke with him several times last year about a city- university triathlon idea.

"I love it," Lazar said. "My family might be a little tired. My kids shut the TV off when the City Council meetings are on."

Bee staff writer Michael R. Shea can be reached at mshea@modbee.com or 578-2391.