Congratulations to Roberta Fonzi, Jerry Clay and Bob Kelly on their success in the city council election. I wish them well in tackling Atascadero's problems on the council during the next four years.

Though our campaign did not produce a victory, I do not feel defeated. We ran a campaign to be proud of—positive, substantive and respectful of the voters. I hope that we also elevated the level of discourse and raised the standards for future campaigns.

I want to thank all who gave so much to make the campaign a success. I only wish that I could have delivered to you all the electoral victory that you deserved. For those many of you who worked on the campaign, contributed money and offered encouragement and support in so many other tangible and intangible ways, I am at a loss for words in expressing how much I appreciate what you have given. The entire experience enriched me in many ways, but the joy of our collaboration in this completely selfless effort was the most precious thing that I derived from the endeavor. My only regret is that the outcome could not have been better.

Figuring out what the future holds will take some time. At this point, I can only be certain that I will neither go into exile nor ride off into the sunset. Beyond that, it remains to be seen. I am sure that I will be reviewing the future possibilities with many of you in the days, weeks and months ahead.

I cannot close without singling out Gaylen Little, Mike Zappas and Eileen O'Grady for all of the hard work they did on a daily basis as members of our core campaign committee. They, along with our committee facilitator (who prefers not to be named) kept the campaign humming along well and liberated me from many worries and concerns so that I could stay focused on the work of campaigning. Let me also commend Steven Brown for his invaluable expert assistance managing the website.

I also must give special recognition to my ever-loyal, always able, loving wife, Katrin. She was stuck with 24-hour campaign duty alongside a sometimes difficult candidate. At one time or another, she did just about everything one can do in a political campaign. She also sustained me, as always, throughout the course of the adventure, with her good-natured disposition and constant affection. To borrow a line from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., she makes my life like poetry.

I am profoundly grateful to all of you for believing in me. I will do my best to live up to that belief in the future.