Mayor vote reveals City Council disharmony

The City Council's end-of-the-year selections of who will serve one-year terms as mayor and mayor pro tem are reliable indicators of the nature of the working relationship among the five elected governing body members.

This year's split-vote elections of Craig Young to replace Tom Lindsey as mayor and Gene Hernandez to succeed Young as mayor pro tem are sure signs the present highly charged political atmosphere will continue through the November 2014 council election cycle.

In past times, the mayor and mayor pro tem positions were routinely rotated among the council members on unanimous votes, despite strong differences of opinion held by the individual members on many of the issues of the day.

But lately, the mayorship has become a valuable commodity, giving title holders a distinct election-year advantage, as evidenced by the last three council contests, with the annual selection process echoing the political feuding that engulfs so many council deliberations.

In 2008, Jim Winder used “Mayor, Yorba Linda” as his ballot-listed occupation and won a third term by one vote. In 2010, John Anderson included “mayor” as part of his ballot identification and used the title on campaign signs, as did Mark Schwing in 2012, and each won first place.

This year, Young is a candidate for one of 80 seats in the state Assembly from a district that includes Yorba Linda and all or parts of 10 cities in three counties. The “mayor” title will help distinguish him from two Los Angeles County opponents in next year's June primary.

Last year, Young was named mayor pro tem on a 3-2 vote, with Anderson and Schwing opposed, after Schwing had nominated Anderson for the position. The same tally moved Young to the mayor's chair this year, after Schwing again nominated Anderson for the job. Hernandez, the only mayor pro tem nominee, was approved 4-1, with Anderson opposed.

The mayor's position is mainly ceremonial, as he presides over the twice-monthly council meetings. He earns the same $500 salary, $1,020 deferred compensation, $100 car allo- wance and other benefits paid each month to council members.

Next year's election has the potential to change the council's voting patterns, since seats now held by Tom Lindsey, often identified with a Hernandez-Lindsey-Young bloc, and John Ander-son, part of an Anderson-Schwing alignment, will be on the ballot.

And should Young win the Assembly position, Hernandez and Schwing, along with members elected next November, could appoint a replacement--or call a special election if deadlocked.

Of the 32 individuals elected to the council in this city's 46-year history, excluding newcomer Hernandez, only one, Jan Horton, never served as mayor. She was mayor pro tem in 2008, but was passed over when a new council majority selected Schwing for 2009.

Thirty-year council veteran Hank Wedaa holds the city record with five terms in the mayor's chair, despite being passed over in the 1990s when involved with feuds with John Gullixson.

Schwing and Irwin Fried share second-place with four terms each.