The 37-year-old Lieber, still a senior at Stanford, launched her campaign for city government in 1998. Lieber won this election, as the top vote-getter of seven candidates, and served as Vice Mayor and Mayor. She also served as the City's representative on the Valley Transportation Authority's Board of Directors and as Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Water Commission. In 2001, a group of citizens launched an effort to recall her from office but that effort was abandoned when Lieber won the Democratic primary for the 22nd Assembly District, a seat almost guaranteed to the Democratic candidate, by way of an earlier redistricting of voters in the 22nd Assembly District.