Choice of officers for Yorba Linda public panels will signal possible presence of election enmity

Acrimony that develops in hard-fought elections – as seen in the recent contests for several of Yorba Linda's top government positions – sometimes lingers long after the ballots are counted.

A reliable indicator of any continuing enmity is selecting next year's officers by less than unanimous votes when the governing bodies hold organizational meetings in December.

These are largely ceremonial positions, with few specific duties, such as serving as presiding officer at meetings, so the panels normally rotate the offices among all members for one-year terms, despite personal or political differences.

The City Council used a rotation policy for many years after incorporation, but in later years, members on the short end of 3-2 and 4-1 votes were excluded from serving as mayor and mayor pro tem, notably Hank Wedaa and Mark Schwing near the end of their long tenures.

And Councilwoman Jan Horton, serving as mayor pro tem in 2008, was denied the mayor's chair for 2009 on a 3-2 vote. Out of 32 council members, she's the only one to not serve as mayor.

In a surprise move after the 2014 election, the council vacated all 20 city commission positions, even though most of the terms had not yet expired, on a 4-1 vote (Schwing dissented). Most commissioners were reappointed, but some opponents were dropped.

This year, the sitting commissioners are probably safe, and Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Huang is expected to succeed Tom Lindsey as mayor. Either Gene Hernandez, mayor in 2015, or Tara Campbell, top vote-getter this year, would fit into a traditional rotation policy as mayor pro tem.

Selection of a president in the Yorba Linda Water District will be more revealing, since Phil Hawkins is the only holdover director, and four newly elected members will be taking office. Three – Brooke Jones, Wayne Miller and Al Nederhood – make up a “reform” board majority.

Hawkins, president in 2012, would be next-in-line for the top spot, since Vice President Mike Beverage is retiring. But with controversy over a raise and three-year contract extension for General Manager Marc Marcantonio by departing directors, a different choice is likely.

In the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district rotation expect Yorba Linda resident Karin Freeman to be selected president, Placentia resident Carol Downey vice president and Yorba Linda resident Carrie Buck clerk. Freeman is the district's longest-tenured trustee at 27 years.

North Orange County Community College District trustees also are expected to rotate, with Fullerton's Molly McClanahan named president and Anaheim's Jacqueline Rodarte vice president. A southwestern part of Yorba Linda with 1,635 registered voters is included in Rodarte's Area 5.

Yorba Lindans Jeff Brown, whose Area 6 includes a tiny section of the city's west end with 848 registered voters, and Ryan Bent, whose Area 7 includes most of the city with 40,046 voters, await turns in the rotation.

Yorba Linda voters serve up historic firsts in 2016 election year: a successful recall, female majority

Yorba Linda voters will have served up a couple of historic firsts in the Nov. 8 election if the continuing count confirms current tallies.

One, of course, is the community's first-ever successful recall that dumped two six-year directors of the Yorba Linda Water District by a massive 70 percent of the vote. Only one other recall has ever made the ballot, a failed attempt to oust two city councilmen in 2014.

A new board majority will include Wayne Miller, elected for four years, and Brooke Jones and Al Nederhood, who will finish the two years left on the terms of Robert Kiley and Gary Melton.

They will be joined by holdover director Phil Hawkins and Andy Hall, who was elected to a four-year term as the running-mate of Ric Collett, who was defeated seeking a fourth term.

While the new majority has vowed to lower rates and return excess payments, another issue sure to arise is the status of General Manager Marc Marcantonio and Public Affairs Manager Damon Micalizzi.

Both were heavily criticized by leaders of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association that launched the recall and endorsed three of the winners in a bitter, hard-fought contest.

Marcantonio's three-year “at-will” contract expires Sept. 1, 2017, at which time he could be released, only collecting unused leave. If he's fired before that date, he's entitled to a three-month severance or pay equal to his monthly salary for time remaining on his contract.

His current yearly pay is $191,675, with no severance needed if he voluntarily resigns. The pay range for Micalizzi tops out at $158,155, according to the district's transparency posting.

Another first, if the vote count trend continues, will be the concurrent election of two women to the City Council for a first-ever female majority: newly elected Tara Campbell and Beth Haney and Peggy Huang, elected in 2014.

Previously, only six women were among the 32 individuals elected to the council since incorporation. Fifteen others lost in past elections, and just once, 2008-2010, have two served simultaneously.

The first woman elected, Carolyn Ewing in 1972, didn't seek a second term. Keri Wilson, elected in 2002, Jan Horton, elected in 2006, and Nancy Rikel, elected in 2008, were all defeated for re-election. Only Barbara Kiley served two terms, 1992-2000.

Unless Craig Young reverses a 364-vote election night deficit, his loss would come after surviving (with Tom Lindsey) that first 2014 recall election.

Despite anti-incumbent sentiment in the other contests, voters strongly supported Placentia-Yorba Linda school trustees in a second-straight election. Judi Carmona, Carol Downey and Eric Padget and 2014 winners Carrie Buck and Karin Freeman have served a total 63 years.

And once again Yorba Linda will have two trustees on the North Orange County Community College District board, with library commissioner Ryan Bent joining Jeff Brown on the seven-member panel. 

Yorba Linda ballots still being counted as election winners prepare to take office; Schwing sets record

Hundreds of Yorba Linda ballots remain to be counted before results are certified by a state-imposed Dec. 8 deadline, although this county's elections officials usually have a completed tally within a couple weeks of Election Day.

Most of the yet-to-be counted votes are provisional ballots cast at polling places, vote-by-mail ballots either returned to precincts or received at the registrar's office by mail up to three days after Tuesday's election and paper ballots cast at precincts.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, winners of the three City Council seats will begin four-year terms at the regularly scheduled Dec. 6 meeting, while victors in the water district contests will will be installed at a regularly scheduled Dec. 8 meeting.

Winners of trustee positions in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District and the North Orange County Community College District will be sworn in at Dec. 13 meetings. Each winner will receive a “certificate of election” from county officials before a Dec. 9 deadline.

One of the first orders of business at the four installation meetings will be the selection of new officers: mayor and mayor pro-tem for the council; president and vice-president for the water board; and president, vice-president and secretary or clerk for each of the two school boards.

Registration didn't reach Yorba Linda's all-time high of 45,494 who were eligible to cast ballots in 2012. This year's total was 42,621: Republicans dipped to 53.7 percent, Democrats held at 22.2 percent and “no party preference” grew to 20.3 percent. More than 64 percent, 27,420, were issued vote-by-mail ballots.

The council's Dec. 6 organizational meeting will be the last at the dais for record-holder Mark Schwing, who has appeared on a Yorba Linda ballot more times than any other resident since elections were first held in this community, pre- and post-incorporation.

Schwing's 15 ballot appearances include 11 wins and four loses. Five wins were for four-year council terms, with first-place finishes in four. Six wins were for two-year terms on the county Republican Central Committee from 1998 through 2008.

His first council victory was in 1988 – a second place finish – a couple years after moving to the city. He won re-election in 1992 and 1996 before losing by 101 votes in 2000. He again ran in 2002 but lost by three votes. His 2008 and 2012 wins make his 20-year tenure second to Hank Wedaa's 30 years.

Included in his loses were a water district contest in 2004 by 657 votes and a re-election race for a seventh term on the Central Committee in 2010. He brought signed nominating petitions for the 2006 council race to City Hall but decided not to file minutes before the deadline.

The city's three-term limit law for council service, effective after the 1996 election, makes it unlikely Schwing's ballot record will ever be matched. However, he is eligible to serve one more council term.

Revisions to two documents that guarantee transparency into Yorba Linda fiscal matters receive unanimous City Council approval

Revisions to two important documents that guarantee transparency into Yorba Linda's fiscal operations were approved recently with unanimous City Council votes.

One involves changes to an ordinance dealing with claims on and payments from city funds, while the other updates a conflict of interest code that allows the public to see the economic interests of officials involved in financial decision-making.

A municipal code chapter regarding presenting, processing and paying invoices, claims and demands has been updated to conform with the city's actual practice regarding the payment of bills and change some archaic language in the code adopted more than 40 years ago.

The changes “in no way compromise the existing controls in place or eliminate the practice of providing a list of all payments made by the city to the City Council and the Finance Committee,” noted a recent report to the council from Finance Director Scott Catlett.

A major revision drops a current requirement that council review payments before they are released (unless a council meeting isn't scheduled), since, in practice, bills have been paid before council approval for many years, “including emergency checks and wire transfers.”

These are payments “that must be received prior to the next (council) meeting to avoid an event of delinquency, default or some other hardship or significant cost to the city,” Catlett noted, adding that in some situations “a delay of two to three weeks...is not possible.”

Other updates include wording noting that personnel signing checks are covered by a “crime insurance policy” and more accurate language related to the review of payments by the city's Finance Committee, which is composed of two council members usually meeting monthly.

And the city's “warrant register” will be renamed the “check register” to reflect that the city no longer issues a warrant (“a promise of payment”) but pays with a check from a bank account. These payments are posted online under the “consent calendar” on most council agendas.

The conflict of interest code, first adopted in 1980 and last revised in 2014, now covers 47 of this city's employee positions, in addition to council members, appointed commissioners and city-hired consultants dealing with financial matters.

One key requirement is to report investments and real property interests in broad categories of exceeding $2,000; $10,000; $100,000; and $1 million. Income and loans are disclosed in categories of $1,000 or less; $1,000 or more; $10,000 or more; and $100,000 or more.

Gifts with a total value of $460 or more from a single source in a calendar year are prohibited, and each gift valued at $50 or more must be reported.

These “statements of economic interests” can be viewed at City Hall or accessed online. School and water district officials also file reports, but they are not posted online and are only available for in-person viewing.