After the departure of Rod Tam, a great pall settled over the Honolulu City Council.

Who would lead us in civic distraction, who would take the banal and make it criminal and who would rescue us from the numbing reports on sewer lines, building heights and crowing rooster curfews?

And then Tom Berg appeared.

Last Dec. 30, a special election to fill a Council vacancy was held. The answer to the question of "Who thinks about politics five days after Christmas?" was answered with a resounding "Hardly anyone."

Berg won with 2,308 votes. Pitching himself as a lone voice of dissent, Berg won headlines for his opposition to the city’s rail plans and various municipal financial plans.

If Berg was getting a high profile as a protester, it all collapsed last month with his unseemly and boorish confrontation with the U.S. Secret Service, which refused his demands to reenter a secure area to retrieve a cellphone.

The Secret Service and the Honolulu police, which released a video of the councilman, said Berg was intoxicated, "extremely argumentative and irrational."

Hint: If you won an election with 2,308 supporters, having "reeking of alcohol" next to your name in a newspaper headline is not a feather in your reelection cap.

Still Berg, a self-described tea party Republican on the nonpartisan Council, says he will run for reelection to his Leeward seat next year. He is already picking up opposition from former state Rep. Alex Santiago, who says he will run against Berg.

Next year will be a good year for Council races. Because term limits are forcing two Council veterans out, Democrats Nestor Garcia and Romy Cachola will not be able to run for reelection.

The rumor mill is cranking out plenty of possible candidates and moves. Although I was unable to reach Garcia or Cachola before press time, there are reports that Cachola is interested in returning to the state Legislature and Garcia is also rumored to be considering a run for the state Senate. And former state Sen. Ron Menor is reportedly interested in Garcia’s Mililani Council seat.

Also running for reelection is Windward District’s Ikaika Anderson. So far no candidates have said they would challenge him.

Council and legislative veteran Ann Kobayashi says she is running for reelection to her Manoa seat. The news there is that Kobayashi’s decision means she won’t run for Honolulu mayor. She had been a rumored possible candidate against incumbent Mayor Peter Carlisle.

"Many people have asked me to, but I am staying on the Council," Kobayashi said.

One incumbent, Tulsi Gabbard, who represents the Makiki-Downtown-Kalihi district, is running for Congress. She doesn’t have to resign to run for a federal office, but if she wins, a special election will have to be held (please, not in December) to fill that Council vacancy. If Gabbard loses in the 2nd congressional district race, she remains on the Council.

The other incumbents with races in 2014 include the Council chairman, Ernie Martin, and two Council newcomers, Stanley Chang and Breene Harimoto.

Martin has reportedly toyed with the idea of running for mayor, but he won his Council seat last year by only 47 votes, so he may need to start watering those grassroots before considering a promotion.