It was a different City Council back in 1977, when Marilyn Bornhorst, who died May 13, became its first chairwoman. For one thing, it was a boys’ club, by and large, and Bornhorst found herself on the opposite side from some of the “boys.”

One of those was the late Rudy Pacarro, but long after she had retired, Bornhorst preferred to remember fun times. Pacarro had proposed starting each meeting with a song and then spun her around the floor for a dance. The old days weren’t all in black and white.