If you watched this week's City Council meetings, you know they weren't ordinary. If you missed them, I’m sure the Pine Cone has you covered today. But, I’ll give you my overview here. Over two long days, the Council took up tourism, housing, finances, leadership, and ballot measures. Across 20 agenda items, one question kept surfacing: How do we preserve the Carmel we love while preparing for the Carmel we're becoming? See Monterey: Restoring the Partnership The first major

Two years ago this week, I attended a meeting with two associates to discuss who should run for mayor. By the end of the meeting, the conversation had turned toward me.. There was just one problem. I had never run for office. Like most people facing something new, my first thought was, "Now what?" Fortunately, there is plenty of help available online, at City Hall, and from former councilpeople. I was thinking about that meeting this week because nomination papers for Carmel'

I received an unexpected message recently from Fuheis, a community of 22,000 people in the hills northwest of Amman, Jordan. Known for oak trees, olive groves, and a deep history, they told me they are struggling to hold onto what makes their town worth living in as the modern world presses in from every direction. Sound familiar? Their representatives asked how a small coastal community managed to protect its character for more than a century against the relentless pressure