Still, say some who have run for and held office on Saratoga's city council in the past, those limitations don't really inhibit the kind of representation Saratoga's residents receive. In fact, they say, the real limitation is people's willingness—if more were willing to serve the community, they might find they really are able to do so.

Saratogans Ann Marie Burger and Don Wolfe know what it means to serve. Burger was on the city council from 1992 to 1996, serving one year as mayor, and then lost her bid for reelection. Wolfe served on the council from 1994 to 1998, serving one year as mayor. He didn't run for reelection but instead ran for the West Valley­Mission Community College District Board of Trustees, on which he has served for four years and for which he is running for reelection this fall.

"If you do it right, you literally sign your life away to that for four years," Burger said of serving on the council. "It was the focus of my life; it becomes your life."

Burger said she spent four to five hours a day on the job of being a councilwoman—reading the staff reports to prepare for council meetings, going to those meetings as well as a host of other city meetings, representing the city on regional committees and at meetings, attending social functions, and handling constituent inquiries. She was able to do this because she had the flexibility of running her own business and she had the support of her husband, which is critical, she said.

"You need a tremendous amount of support at home," she said.

And she had it lucky—for those young professionals working hard and raising young families, she said, serving on the council is almost impossible.

"For a businessperson juggling family, kids in school, it's hard," Berger said. "A lot of capable people would never even consider it. And I think sometimes these are the people who would be best for the community."

And she pointed out that Saratogans often work harder than most in order to afford to live here.

Wolfe agreed that not everyone can make the commitment of serving on the council--he himself waited until he had a job working fewer hours than before and had a flexible employer willing to make accommodations for his schedule.

"You end up going to many, many meetings, not to mention the social events," he said. "You're going to dedicate at least four years."

He said holding office takes four attributes: a sense of humor, an understanding of family, an appreciation for the process of democracy and a commitment to more than just one issue. In particular, he said, it's important to remember that "when your name appears in the paper, or in one of DeCinzo's cartoons, the family name does, too. There are very few that do hold themselves out for service, and fewer yet for elected service. It's almost an intimidating process."

Burger, too, said that the job takes more than just time and commitment—it takes a willingness to work hard for little but criticism.

"I busted my buns for four years and probably had about two people tell me 'thank you,' " she said. "I heard a lot about what I'd done wrong. That's how it is, especially locally, because you're available. I don't think that should stop people, but it takes a certain strength of character, thick skin."

Both agreed, though, that decreasing the number of duties for councilmembers, even if it meant more people could then hold office, would not be in the best interests of the city.

"I think the city would be lesser served," Wolfe said of the idea that councilmembers limit their regional duties. "Nothing good comes to your city if it is underrepresented in the Bay Area. The obligation of time does affect the pool of people. It does affect representation, but over time there's enough diversity of personalities that the process stays intact."

"It limits representation to some extent," Burger said of the time commitment. "But not overall. And the community does have a lot of retirees."

Marge Bunyard, former president of the West Valley League of Women Voters, said that a limited council "may or may not" impact the representation of the city's residents, and councilmembers have to commit to serving everyone.

"We really count on the council people to keep themselves informed on all the people in the community," she said.

One way to perhaps broaden the spectrum of those who can serve, she said, would be for the council to appoint representatives to attend regional meetings and report back to them. A benefit of this, she added, is that others would get a taste of what serving on the city council is like.

Another way the council could cut back on the time commitment would be to try to restrain the length of their meetings, either by having the city manager handle more city responsibilities or by moving important items to earlier in the agenda.

"The way it works right now," she said, "it runs so late and, really, the good things happen at the end."

But Bunyard said she thinks the current council is doing a good job, even if it isn't as broad a cross section of the community as it has been in the past. She added that the job of a city council member is hard, no matter how much time it takes.

But Burger and Wolfe said that serving the community does have its rewards.

"When I look back, it was a wonderful experience, if you are sincere about wanting to serve your community," Burger said. "I likened it almost to earning another college degree."

"I'm gratified that all people, from all walks of life, eventually can serve," Wolfe said. "I'm not unhappy with how it turns out in general. I hold these people in high regard. They're doing what's expected of a citizen. This is part of our civic duty as Americans."