When it comes to promoting historic preservation, Napa Councilwoman Juliana Inman talks the talk, walks the walk ... and then some.

She lives in a Victorian home on First Street that she's spent the better part of two decades restoring.

As an architect, she's worked for clients who have adapted older buildings for contemporary use.

She won office last November touting her commitment to preserving Napa's past.

Now Inman is about to be elected president of Napa County Landmarks, the community's nonprofit advocate for historic buildings and sites.

"For me it's a passion, a calling," Inman said of her preservation efforts. "I think that historic buildings, places and neighborhoods connect us to our past through a physical connection."

To look at what happens when a community slights its history, Inman cites Napa's experiment with downtown urban renewal in the 1970s. "It created terrible wounds for downtown and in the fabric of the community that we're still recovering from," she said.

Will Inman's leadership role in Napa County Landmarks compromise her objectivity as a council member? Anticipating this question, Inman said she asked City Attorney Michael Barrett for advice.

Because the job of Landmarks president is unpaid, there is no financial conflict, Barrett said. Inman cannot get in trouble with the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, he said.

However, there is the potential for another type of conflict -- bias -- if Inman were required by her Landmarks' role to take a position on a council issue, Barrett said.

As long as Councilwoman Inman is open to testimony at a public hearing and has not made up her mind beforehand, she can vote as a council member on historic matters, he said.

If that is not possible, she would have to step aside from the council debate, Barrett said.

Inman said she is in full agreement with the city attorney's analysis. "If there is a conflict, I'd recuse myself from one or the other or both," she said. "You have to pick what hat you wear. My main hat is the City Council."

Inman's fellow council members applaud her activist role in preservation. "It's Juliana's passion" and one shared generally by the full council, Mayor Jill Techel said.

"You need good people who understand history and will go to the mat to protect it," Councilman Jim Krider said. Her "encyclopedic knowledge" of preservation matters benefits everyone, he said.

"I don't see it as a conflict. We all have dual roles," said Councilman Peter Mott, who serves on a Napa Chamber of Commerce committee. "Julie's always been upfront with her passion for Landmarks and historic preservation."

During her decade on the city and county planning commissions, Inman was active in Landmarks, often serving on its Preservation Action Committee, which annually designates 11 threatened landmarks and recommends awards for preservation projects.

She was Landmarks' Volunteer of the Year in 1993 and Preservationist of the Year in 2000. As president, "I think she will be a tremendous asset and a leader for us," said current president Brenda Perry.

In recent months, Councilwoman Inman has initiated preservationist actions in keeping with her political platform.

Hearing of three homes on Coombs Street, opposite the Napa City-County Library, for which an owner has development plans, she asked for and received a staff report detailing the hurdles that such a project would have to overcome.

These houses are a vital part of the Napa Abajo-Fuller Park neighborhood that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Inman, who as a private citizen pushed for historic status for the area.

When City Manager Mike Parness suggested that the city might want to consolidate commissions to save staff time and money, Inman lobbied on behalf of the Cultural Heritage Commission, which was thought to be on the chopping block.

"I made some suggestions and they were well received," Inman said. "I think it will continue."

Napa County Landmarks tried to save the First Street bridge over the Napa River, which is scheduled to be replaced next year, by having it put on the National Register. The loss of that bridge, which is an impediment in floods, will be "heartbreaking," Inman said last week.

When the council was asked last month to approve more money for the replacement bridge's engineering and construction supervision contract, Inman was the lone no vote.

This wasn't a vote against the removal of the bridge, she said. Rather, costs had escalated beyond what she thought was reasonable.

Landmarks recently nominated the Main Street bridge over Napa Creek -- the oldest stone bridge in California -- for the National Register. In this case, the city agrees that the bridge should be preserved and the flood control design will allow it.

When it comes to historic preservation, most reasonable people agree most of the time, Inman said. "I do think it's mom and apple pie," she said. "I do think people do appreciate our historic resources in the community."