Young has rocky start for term as mayor

Yorba Linda City Council members have named one of their colleagues to serve as mayor 50 times since incorporation in 1967, but none has had a rockier start in the position as the most recent choice, Craig Young.

Young's troubles are partly due to a steep learning curve commonly encountered by first-time occupants of the mayor's chair, but they also can be attributed to this city's prevailing take-no-prisoners political environment.

The travails began just after Young's 2012 election to the council, when he was chosen mayor pro-tem on a 3-2 vote, and the governing body devolved into factions, with Young often in an alliance with Gene Hernandez and Tom Lindsey opposing John Anderson and Mark Schwing.

When Young became mayor on the same 3-2 tally, he dumped Schwing as the city's rep on the toll roads board and named himself to the post. (Schwing, as mayor in 2008, had dropped Jan Horton from the fire authority board and replaced her with his ally Nancy Rikel.)

On occasion, Young has been unable to muster support from his allies. He cast lone votes against Community Block Grant funding and a matter involving a citizen panel working on landscape issues, although he won unanimous backing for a $720 expenditure for gifts for foreign leaders on his China trip.

And one of his first actions as mayor--a proposal to “update” the order of business on the council's twice-monthly agendas--was “received and filed” on a 4-1 vote. Even residents who usually support Young spoke against this item during public comments.

Young needs to revise his meddling new policy on procedures for the public to address the council, but one element of his failed agenda plan that would have served a worthy goal of voting on key issues early in the meeting should be adopted.

The mayor wanted the time for comments by council members moved to the end of the session. Presently, this self-serving section in which they frequently extol their offspring, praise supporters and settle political scores, comes before more important business.

Of course, a bigger obstacle to a smooth-sailing mayorship for Young is an attempt to recall Young and Lindsey. Even if advocates don't gather 8,100 valid signatures by May 14, plethoric negative publicity will hurt Young.

One of four candidates--so far--for a state Assembly seat, Young had an advantage as the only Orange County contender in a district with 47 percent of voters in Orange County and the remainder in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

But now, the three Los Angeles County candidates, including two Diamond Bar councilmembers, Ling-ling Chang and Steve Tye, profit from Young's problems.

Interesting to residents who remember the acrimonious switch from Brea police to the county Sheriff's Department, is an endorsement from Sheriff Sandra Hutchens for a Young opponent, Walnut Valley school trustee Phillip Chen.