Birthday Prankster Strikes Again at City Hall

Mill Valley City Manager Jim McCann knew a tongue-in-cheek prank was headed his way in honor of his 52nd birthday on Monday.

But he had no idea the lengths to which the prankster – City Councilman Ken Wachtel - would go.

“I would have never guessed that there would be a hundred ducks in a wading pond in my () office,” McCann said. “I don’t know who thinks of these kinds of things. He’s remarkable.”

Wachtel, who to friends, family and supporters, , when he filled McCann’s office with hundreds of balloons. McCann reciprocated the act for Wachtel’s birthday two days later, filling his Shelter Bay law office with those balloons and 100 more.

Wachtel planned this year’s operation weeks in advance. He discovered that the nearest water source he could connect to a hose was in the garage of the adjacent fire station, so he purchased a 150-foot hose. He bought a kiddie pool on Craigslist because, well, most stores aren’t stocking their shelves with kiddie pools in January.

Wachtel, who celebrates his 60th birthday Wednesday, returned Sunday night from a train trip to Seattle, a birthday gift from his wife Leslie. Upon landing, the Wachtels went home and loaded up the car with the hose, the pool, 100 (or so) ducks, a plastic crab and an assortment of a tropical luau-themed decorations, and headed to City Hall, letting Police Chief Angel Bernal know in advance that the lights in McCann’s office would be on Sunday night.

Joined by Tam High Boosters President Deborah Dilley, the Wachtels put a plastic liner around the inside of the pool, attaching it using 12 binder clips. Wachtel also closed the office door and posted a sign on it that read, “Don’t forget to duck.”

As he was putting the hose back into his SUV at 11:30 p.m., Wachtel said a reveler from the across the street walked over and said, “I see you’re doing some midnight landscaping.”

McCann knew something was amiss when he arrived Monday morning and saw his windows partially papered over and noticed his office door closed. But he was blown away by the sight of the duck-filled kiddie pool in his heavily decorated office.

“This is the riskiest one I’ve done yet,” Wachtel. “When you leave a pool full of hundreds of gallons of water in somebody’s office, you don’t know what’s going to happen. The last thing I wanted to hear was that City Hall was flooded.”

Despite the risks, Wachtel went big because he remembered how McCann turned the tide last year.

“I knew he couldn’t flip this one on me,” he said.

McCann said he’s not sure how he could possibly top Wachtel this time around, and he might not even try on Wednesday. Maybe.

“He should probably sleep with one eye open,” McCann joked. “But with a person like Ken, you want to be careful. I’m just glad he’s not mad at me.”