CAMPAIGN NEWS

Recently, I spoke at the Carmel Woman's Club about the many initiatives we’ve completed and have underway at City Hall. Preparing that presentation reminded me of the extraordinary volume of information our small city must process, and how important it is that all this activity produces meaningful results. Carmel has approximately 3,200 residents, yet the complexity of running our village bears little relationship to its population. Between City staff, Council, commissions, r

Learning From Other Cities Last week I attended the League of California Cities Annual Conference in Anaheim with colleagues. Thousands of city leaders gathered to share ideas on everything from public safety and housing to transportation, economic development, and city finances. One lesson stood out because Carmel is having a conversation about tourism; its benefits and its impact on residents. We know the pressures visitors can create: traffic, crowded streets, parking in r

Over the next several weeks, City Council candidates will be asked plenty of questions. Measures M and N? Paid parking? Housing? Tourism? Candidate forums explore those issues. But I hope we ask some bigger questions too. Questions that could shape Carmel and the Peninsula for generations. Regional Public Safety Should we seriously explore more comprehensive regional fire and police services? Regional cooperation is nothing new. We already share important services through ma

For the past couple years, I’ve been following 94-year-old Carmel resident Hans Lehman’s Substack blog, Walking My Ways (hanslehman.substack.com). Twice a week, Hans writes about his adventures in Carmel and beyond, finding interesting and positive things in ordinary life. Reading his posts lets us tag along with one of Carmel’s busiest people. Hans inspired me to try something different this week. City government spends much of its time solving problems, something I happen t

A Village, Not a Destination When I was growing up in SoCal, we got our first driver training in the massive parking lot at brand-new Disneyland. That lot, now filled with parking structures, along with every sidewalk, restroom, restaurant, and well-trained employee, was designed to welcome tens of thousands of visitors every day. It was engineered for extraordinary volume. Carmel was designed for something entirely different: a village. A place where neighbors walk to the po

A Talk Given to the Panetta Institute Student Interns on August 10th Good morning. When I was asked to come back and speak to another Panetta Institute class, I was both honored...and I have to say, a little surprised. After all, this room is filled with outstanding students who are headed to Capitol Hill. You've worked incredibly hard to get here. Many of you may have dreamed about working in Washington for years. And then they invited...the mayor of a one-square-mile town w

One question I get is, "How do important City Council decisions actually get made?" Our recent decision to select the recruiting firm for Carmel's next City Administrator offers a good example. Many people understandably judge a council meeting by the final vote. But the vote is really just the last step in what can be a long and thoughtful decision-making process. Preparation Matters Following a public meeting to start the process, and before Council met at a Thursday specia

The purpose of city government is simple: to make daily life work in ways that are safe, fair, and forward-looking. It’s not about hours in meetings or the number of reports we generate. Success is measured by results residents can see, feel, and trust. In Carmel, it’s also about protecting what makes our village unique. Action, Not Talk This week’s City Council meetings showed what that looks like. Thanks to the efforts of a highly effective workgroup, we directed staff to c

A Matter of Minutes Last week, I was at a friend’s house at 3:00 p.m. when he suddenly became pale, disoriented, and appeared to be losing consciousness. I called 911. The call was forwarded to three different people, each asking me to explain our location. That is what it takes today to get help to your door in Carmel. Soon, that changes. Thanks to a tough decision and focused work by a councilmember-led committee, Carmel will finally have proper street addresses in the May

When David Marzetti invited me on his Sunday KMBY radio show at Little Napoli, I thought it would be a great way to update residents on the goings on at City Hall. I doubt either of us expected I'd still be participating at 10:30 am with Frank Sinatra songs more than fifty weeks later. What I also didn't expect was that the more I talked, the more I found myself listening. This shift toward listening has shaped my perspective, whether I'm hosting guests on the air, drafting t

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

June 4th, 2026 Good morning. It is truly an unexpected honor to be here today with you. My name is Dale Byrne, and for six more months I have the honor of serving as the Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea. But I want to be honest with you right up front: I did not plan any of this. In some ways everything I have done in life has led me here, from the time I thought I was managing the project to build our new family home next door when I was five years old to managing a Foster’s Freez

Memorial Day in Carmel is always meaningful. This year it was something more. Standing in Devendorf Park on a cloudy Monday morning, I had the honor of introducing Secretary Leon Panetta to a crowd of residents, veterans, and visitors gathered to honor those who gave everything in service to this country. Surrounded by war memorials, it was one of those moments that reminds you why this community is unlike any other. Leon Panetta is one of us. He lives in Carmel Valley. He sh

Two Things Happened At this week's well-attended budget workshop, two developments signal something important about where Carmel is headed. The first was the continuation of a budget process unlike any this city has seen. Staff came in having done the hard work of examining every line of spending. Some of those reductions, as Mayor Protem Buder noted with his usual directness, went past muscle, past bone, and into marrow. We added some funding back where it made sense but enc

A Role You Don’t Always See One of the less visible parts of being Mayor is helping residents and business owners navigate City Hall when their projects get stuck. It happens more often than it should. Someone follows the rules, submits plans, responds to comments, and then things slow down. Weeks turn into months. Answers become unclear. The path forward gets harder to see. Sometimes, people feel they need to hire an attorney just to move things along. We all know the feelin

At an Important Moment As I’ve shared in recent columns, Carmel is at an important moment as we face decisions that will shape this village for decades. This is a time that calls for careful thought, a clear understanding of the full picture, and constructive dialogue. Last week’s front page article and comments around my Housing Element Amendment public comment brought many of these issues into focus. I shared my perspective publicly to help frame the conversation and highl

Introduction and Purpose I am submitting this comment as a Carmel resident and as Mayor, having followed the Housing Element process closely over the past several years. I strongly support housing production, including affordable units, in Carmel. We need them, and among all those in need, our seniors are the most urgent priority. Long-time residents who built their lives here are increasingly priced out as rents rise beyond fixed incomes. I also want to thank the volunteers

In recent weeks, I have seen first-hand how two local institutions made bold decisions about their futures. Both offer lessons worth carrying into Carmel’s next chapter. Opportunity Favors the Bold In 2023, the Carmel Foundation purchased the former Red Cross building, transforming a quiet administrative office into a vibrant wellness center. Today it hosts exercise equipment, yoga classes, and welcoming spaces for coffee and conversation. Foundation leadership saw opportunit