Palo Alto council unanimously elects Ed Laowing mayor, Vicki Venker vice mayor; new members sworn in

Ed Laowing was elected mayor of Palo Alto by a unanimous 7-0 roll call vote Monday evening, and Councilmember Vicki Venker was unanimously elected vice mayor, the City Council announced at its Jan. 6, 2025 regular meeting. The council also administered oaths of office to newly elected council members and heard Laowing set broad priorities for the year ahead.

Why it matters: The mayor and vice mayor set agenda priorities, committee appointments and represent Palo Alto to regional partners. The incoming leadership signaled an emphasis on tighter strategic prioritization, expanded public outreach and aggressive funding goals for large capital needs.

Councilmember Vicki Venker nominated Vice Mayor Ed Laowing for the mayoralty, and her motion carried after a roll-call vote in which each council member answered “yes.” After the vote Laowing said he would get to work immediately and emphasized execution. “I just like to get things done. I will just work indeed fatigably for you in the next year,” Laowing told the chamber after the result was announced.

Venker was the sole nominee for vice mayor. Former Mayor Greer Stone nominated Venker; the council approved that nomination by unanimous voice vote. Venker accepted the nomination and said she and the mayor have complementary skills, describing a shared focus on “fair and efficient meetings, where we share the air and focus on the task at hand.”

The council also administered oaths to newly elected members including Pat Burt, George Liu and Keith Rectal. Each was sworn in by the city clerk before joining colleagues at the dais.

Public comment on the nominations ranged from regional elected officials offering support to sharply critical remarks from some members of the public. Sergio Lopez, who introduced himself as mayor of Campbell and chair of the Valley Transportation Authority, spoke as a regional partner and offered support for Palo Alto projects including station revitalization. Another commenter made repeated, vitriolic statements about a council member; a different speaker condemned those remarks during the public-comment period as “disgusting” and urged the chamber to reject hate in public meetings.

Laowing used his first remarks as mayor to describe two priorities he wants the council to focus on: setting a disciplined strategic direction for the city’s work and improving communications with residents about projects and timing. He told the council it should “prioritize the critical strategic issues and focus our resources on those,” and said the city must do a better job of keeping residents informed about surveys and project timelines.

Laowing also said the council faces large capital needs — he cited examples including grid modernization, affordable housing financing, Caltrain grade separations and community center planning — and said meeting them will require more focused prioritization, not immediate staff growth. He framed a long-term funding challenge bluntly while noting he had not yet discussed specific proposals with the city manager.

The elections were procedural and noncompetitive: each office had a single nominee and each nomination was approved unanimously. The council adjourned the ceremonial portion of the meeting and moved to recognize outgoing members and later hold a reception for attendees.

Votes at a glance: Mayor — Ed Laowing, nominated by Councilmember Vicki Venker; unanimous roll-call vote (7-0). Vice mayor — Vicki Venker, nominated by former Mayor Greer Stone; unanimous voice vote.