Gary Kovacic was elected Mayor tonight, April 21, 2015, by his peers on the Arcadia City Council for this sixth time since 1998 (including once in a shared rotation among all five Council Members during the 2003-04 Centenial Year).
Incoming Mayor Gary Kovacic (l) honors outgoing Mayor John Wuo, standing next to new Mayor Pro Tem Roger Chandler (center) and Council Members Sho Tay and Tom Beck
And three-time former Mayor Roger Chandler since 1989 was elected Mayor Pro Tem tonight, lining him up for a likely fourth term as Mayor in 2016-17. Mayor Kovacic is in the final year of a second consecutive four-year term, meaning he will need to step away from the Council for at least two years after he concludes his latest term as Mayor next April.
The quick and uncontested nominations and unanimous elections of Kovacic and Chandler came moments after outgoing Mayor John Wuo was praised by his peers, representatives of other County, State and Federal legislators, and local organizations for the end of his fourth gig as Mayor since his abbreviated debut during the Centennial year in 2003-04.
New Arcadia Chamber of Commerce President Andrew Gregson (center) honors outgoing Mayor John Wuo (r), with Chamber CEO Scott Hettrick
Among those groups honoring Wuo with presentations were the Arcadia School Disitrct and School Board, the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, and the Arcadia Chinese Association. Wuo will remain on the Council for the final year of his four-year term. He has not said whether he will run for re-election less than a year from now.
The other two Council Members, Sho Tay and Tom Beck, both completing their first year on the Council, apparently were never considered for Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem this time around. Often these arrangements are quietly coordinated to a certain degree a year ahead of time amongst the Council Members, although they are restricted from discussing any topic with more than one other Council Member and nothing is ever official under they actually vote at the regular public City Council meeting each April.
Mayor Pro Tem Roger Chandler (r) observes outgoing Mayor John Wuo receiving congratulations from Viola Van, representative of Congresswoman Judy Chu.
Some of the discussion amongst Council Members with others attending the pre-meeting reception tonight was about the next election in 2016 for which the campaign begins late this year. Only two seats will be open — Wuo’s and the outgoing Kovacic. If Wuo runs again, he will likely be one of three former Mayors running, including four-timer Bob Harbicht, and Peter Amundson, who was Mayor once in 2010-11 and was on the Council for eight years before having to sit out the past year and the next before running again. Burton Brink, who ran a pretty strong campaign a year ago, has announced publicly many times that he will be running again. And attorney April Verlato is also expected to run. Verlato is the new President of the Downtown Arcadia Improvement Association and has been prominent as one of the leaders in the battle of Highlands homeowners against the City of Arcadia over the last six months or so.
Arcadia Chamber President Gregson (l) in an amusing moment during his presentation to outgoing Mayor Wuo.
Before the ceremonial portion of the City Council meeting began, Highlands homeowner David Arvizu used his full five minutes of public comment to reiterate the fact that he has filed a class action lawsuit against the City to overturn their decision to allow two large homes to replace two smaller homes. He also said that in case city officials didn’t get the message in a recent meeting, there will be no settlement of the suit, that there may even be another lawsuit, and that work has begun to mount a petition drive to recall three sitting Council Members, outgoing Mayor John Wuo whose term ends in a year, newly-elected Mayor Roger Chandler, and first-year Council Member Sho Tay.
Two other people making public comments complained about the City’s new requirement that operators of massage services have a business license from the State of California instead of the City of Arcadia. The first woman was emotional and wiping away tears during her comments. Although City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto advised them that as long as they have a valid City license, they should qualify for the state license without much problem, they each said it was not that simple because there are other requirements that will take time and are causing them to lose their license to operate their business in the meantime.
The meeting began with an invocation during which the Almighty was called on to help Arcadians make it through this period where criminals are “terrorizing” our community and to help Arcadians who are dealing with the water shortage.
After a preamble filled with such concerning characterizations, pointed criticisms, legal threats and uncomfortable and emotional pleas in front of an audience that included the spouses and parents of Council Members who came to celebrate special moments for their loved ones, the more upbeat portion of the meeting got underway. Several of the Council Members noted that despite some challenges faced by Arcadia, as always and no different and still fewer than most cities, Arcadia remains a very well run and very safe community.
Kovacic said that he encourages his Council peers and the community to heed the advice of Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” for one another as they grapple with the challenges ahead.
— By Scott Hettrick