Judging by the size of the board room, members of the public must hardly ever attend the Alameda County Waste Management Authority's board meetings.

Some of the elected local officials have dealt with large crowds turning out for an issue, said Union City Mayor Mark Green, who pointed out that board member Paul Tong, a Newark councilman, is used to tiny turnouts at his city meetings and getting business done quickly.

"Paul hasn't seen this many people in his entire career," Green said as Tong chuckled.

OLD ISSUE, NEW FACES: At a Orinda City Council meeting Tuesday night, it was nice to see that developer Michael Olsen of the long-embattled Montanera project proposed for the Gateway Valley still has a sense of humor after decades of working his project through the city review process.

He opened his presentation to the council with "A lot has happened since we saw you last -- Some of you weren't here when we saw you last," he joked about the new faces on the council.

Mayor Amy Worth quipped back, "But we were all born."

NAME GAME: Steve Wallace the planning commissioner, meet Steve Wallace the public works director.

Split personality? Long-lost twins? A rip in the space-time continuum at a Pleasant Hill City Council meeting?

Nope, just cosmic coincidence.

"The alignment of certain planetary orbs have to come into play before you can calculate something like this," City Manager Mike Ramsey said Monday night.

At the meeting, the council gave Wallace -- the planning commissioner -- a plaque recognizing the generosity he and his wife, Lise, showed when they successfully lobbied ABC to build a house in a week for an ill teenager in Martinez. They organized much of the fund-raising as well.

The same night, Ramsey introduced the city's new public works director, Steve Wallace.

The really great thing is the city saved some money on the deal: Director Wallace now uses Commissioner Wallace's nameplate at council meetings.

"We're saving every penny we can," Ramsey said.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Concord Mayor Laura Hoffmeister couldn't resist poking fun at the high-priced brothel busted in a new luxury apartment complex that the city's redevelopment agency is counting on to help revitalize the city's old downtown.

Two days after the police raid of an apartment rented at the Legacy Park Central, Hoffmeister was telling the mayor's annual breakfast audience about positive development in the city's business climate.

She named Legacy.

Some in the audience laughed.

Well, the mayor ad-libbed, Legacy gives new meaning to providing the city with a business incubator.

A CAKE IS FOREVER: The giant cake unveiled at Concord's centennial celebration lives on as a display at City Hall.

The 500 people attending the Feb. 5 ceremonies were fed sheet cake baked by Mt. Diablo High School's vocational program students.

But the ceremonial cake, a frame in the shape of Todos Santos Plaza covered with fancy icing, was off-limits.

City officials are checking what additives the ceremonial sweet might need to preserve it for an extended showing.