Flags waving. Lights flashing. Horns honking.

Slightly hyperbolically, those were undeniable signs this month that Thomas Small not only had aced his first City Council test, he had established new and lofty threshold for Councilmanic conduct.

Barely outpointed in a Council vote, faultlessly emerged as a top-tier gentleman.

Mr. Small held his brainy head as high as the waterline he drew when fellow freshman Goran Eriksson defeated him for the blue ribbon vacant seat on the prized Sustainability Committee.

It would be natural to feel hurt after such a debut, but Mr. Small revealed not a hint. Instead, he dwelled the importance of the subject.

With appropriate modesty, both Messers. Small and Eriksson pride themselves as environmentalists of stature and accomplishment.

In a head-to-head on the subject, the architectural journalist/consultant and the international businessman doubtless would score A-double-plusses.

After remarking that presumed political opposites, Meghan Sahli-Wells and Mr. Eriksson, will find a way to work in harmony, “I have significant expertise in that field as well,” Mr. Small said.

“I will be able to participate and chime in, particularly in regard to sustainability.

“From my point of view, sustainability is an issue, a philosophy, an approach to modern life that permeates everything,” Mr. Small said.

“I hope to be very involved in development, in traffic, in parking, those issues.

“I believe that sustainability cuts right through all of them.”