Council reorganization sends signals
The City Council’s reorganization meeting last week sent strong signals the governing body will prevent one veteran member from serving as mayor again and might dismiss a three-year planning commissioner before his current term expires in 2013.
As expected, Nancy Rikel was unanimously named mayor, but Mark Schwing’s election as mayor pro tem drew an opposing vote from Jim Winder, who would have been in line for the position if council adhered to a policy of rotating the two offices among members.
The mayor pro tem has moved into the mayor’s chair 36 of the 47 times the council has selected one member to be mayor. Although Schwing was mayor in 2009, the 4-1 vote put him ahead of Winder for a fourth one-year stint in the position in 2012.
Based on 2008 and 2010 election results, ballot identification as mayor gives candidates an edge in the final vote tally. Winder won by one vote in 2008, the last of two times he served as mayor. Since he’s termed out in 2012, he’s not likely to be named mayor again.
Should Schwing succeed Rikel in 2012, he’ll be mayor during an expected run for a fifth term. He won his first three terms before the three-term limit law became effective, so he could serve through 2020 and possibly top Hank Wedaa’s record of five mayoral terms.
Council also will consider removing Mark Abramowitz from the council-appointed, five-member Planning Commission, the city’s “decision-making authority on applications for various types of land use and zoning matters,” at an upcoming meeting.
Abramowitz was appointed to the commission in 2007 and re-appointed to a four-year term in 2009. If dismissed, he’ll be the only commissioner to be let go mid-term since council members dropped four Parks and Recreation commissioners in 1993.
Abramowitz was elected to the Yorba Linda Water District board in 1998, but he lost that seat in 2002. He placed seventh out of nine candidates for three council positions in 2008.
Statements from newly elected Tom Lindsey and re-elected John Anderson were routine promises to live up to the responsibilities of the office, although Anderson outlined some of the challenges facing council members in the coming years.
One of the matters mentioned by Anderson was the Measure Z defeat by 197 votes in the November election. A favorable Z vote would have allowed council to rezone a 3.2-acre Savi Ranch land parcel for up to 30 units per acre for affordable housing.
How the council will attempt to meet state-mandated low-cost housing requirements and whether state officials and/or court decisions will trump council actions or public votes in zoning issues will be a major concern during the next few years.
Interestingly, 12,707 eastside voters in the 60th Assembly District opposed Z, 54.5 to 45.5 percent (6,931 to 5,776), and 13,784 westside voters in the 72nd Assembly District backed Z, 53.5 to 46.5 percent (7,371 to 6,413), indicating voters might decide density issues based on how close they reside to a proposed affordable housing project.
Also worthy of note: for the first time in a regularly scheduled election, mail-in ballots topped precinct-cast ballots, 14,713 to 13,809. And while 28,522 of 43,681 registered residents cast ballots, fewer voted on Measure Z (26,491) and on the Measure Y ethics ordinance (26,352).
As expected, Nancy Rikel was unanimously named mayor, but Mark Schwing’s election as mayor pro tem drew an opposing vote from Jim Winder, who would have been in line for the position if council adhered to a policy of rotating the two offices among members.
The mayor pro tem has moved into the mayor’s chair 36 of the 47 times the council has selected one member to be mayor. Although Schwing was mayor in 2009, the 4-1 vote put him ahead of Winder for a fourth one-year stint in the position in 2012.
Based on 2008 and 2010 election results, ballot identification as mayor gives candidates an edge in the final vote tally. Winder won by one vote in 2008, the last of two times he served as mayor. Since he’s termed out in 2012, he’s not likely to be named mayor again.
Should Schwing succeed Rikel in 2012, he’ll be mayor during an expected run for a fifth term. He won his first three terms before the three-term limit law became effective, so he could serve through 2020 and possibly top Hank Wedaa’s record of five mayoral terms.
Council also will consider removing Mark Abramowitz from the council-appointed, five-member Planning Commission, the city’s “decision-making authority on applications for various types of land use and zoning matters,” at an upcoming meeting.
Abramowitz was appointed to the commission in 2007 and re-appointed to a four-year term in 2009. If dismissed, he’ll be the only commissioner to be let go mid-term since council members dropped four Parks and Recreation commissioners in 1993.
Abramowitz was elected to the Yorba Linda Water District board in 1998, but he lost that seat in 2002. He placed seventh out of nine candidates for three council positions in 2008.
Statements from newly elected Tom Lindsey and re-elected John Anderson were routine promises to live up to the responsibilities of the office, although Anderson outlined some of the challenges facing council members in the coming years.
One of the matters mentioned by Anderson was the Measure Z defeat by 197 votes in the November election. A favorable Z vote would have allowed council to rezone a 3.2-acre Savi Ranch land parcel for up to 30 units per acre for affordable housing.
How the council will attempt to meet state-mandated low-cost housing requirements and whether state officials and/or court decisions will trump council actions or public votes in zoning issues will be a major concern during the next few years.
Interestingly, 12,707 eastside voters in the 60th Assembly District opposed Z, 54.5 to 45.5 percent (6,931 to 5,776), and 13,784 westside voters in the 72nd Assembly District backed Z, 53.5 to 46.5 percent (7,371 to 6,413), indicating voters might decide density issues based on how close they reside to a proposed affordable housing project.
Also worthy of note: for the first time in a regularly scheduled election, mail-in ballots topped precinct-cast ballots, 14,713 to 13,809. And while 28,522 of 43,681 registered residents cast ballots, fewer voted on Measure Z (26,491) and on the Measure Y ethics ordinance (26,352).
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
<< Home