Fitting the Bill

Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, sensitive to my aversion to early mornings, waited until Wednesday afternoon to call and follow up on our terse election-night conversation.

He asked if I'd heard from his defeated challenger, Aaron Proctor, who had famously accused Bill of being "170 years old."

Demonstrating the personal generosity that is part of why he can be mayor as long as he damn well pleases, Bill said he hoped to speak with Aaron about his future.

"He's certainly a nice person, and he wanted to get his feet wet in active politics," Bill says. "I said I’d want to be in touch if he’s interested in discussing opportunities" for Aaron to get involved in the city.

As much delight I take in giving the mayor a hard time - That's classy.