Updated Jan. 15, 4:45 p.m.: On the heels of spearheading an unprecedented long-term contract renewal negotiation with all five City unions simultaneously and in record time, Arcadia Mayor Mickey Segal has opted not to run for re-election on April 8. His decision opens the door for at least two first-time new members on the Council, and potentially a majority of the five-member Council.
Mickey Segal
For the first time in recent memory, there is no incumbent candidate, though Roger Chandler hopes to return to the Council where he has served multiple Mayoral stints. And Sho Tay, who is very familiar to voters, hopes to make this his first successful run. Other newcomers to the process who filed by the 5:30 p.m. deadline today and are awaiting validation of their applications from the City are Tom Beck, Burton Brink and Paul Van Fleet. Only one of the five potential candidates thus far is Chinese-American in a City that is nearly two-thirds Chinese; none are female; and all five are AARP-eligible.
Segal’s decision triggered a seldom-exercised City election rule that allows for a 48-hour extension of the filing deadline if no incumbent is running, according to Lisa Mussenden, Chief Deputy City Clerk/Records Manager. That means others could have rushed to apply on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, though the challenge for them would have been considerable (see requirements below). But no additional candidates filed to run for the City Council during the extension time.
Meanwhile, Segal, a CPA, financial advisor and managing partner of his own firm in Century City representing many major star athletes and celebrities, told ArcadiasBest.com tonight that while he has mixed emotions — he only made his decision final a few days ago — his business is growing so fast that he cannot in good conscience commit to another four years on the Arcadia City Council knowing he would not be able to attend the appropriate number of events. Noting that his 265-employee firm Nigro Carlin Segal Feldstein & Bolno has doubled in size in the past five years and is expanding with a new office soon in San Francisco and perhaps another East Coast office, Segal said his travel and the demand on his time is increasing.
“I don’t want to be part-time Councilman where I can’t attend all the events,” he said.
Segal’s decision has been the subject of speculation for months — he was also on the fence before deciding to run again four years ago. After donating and raising many millions of dollars as chairman of the Methodist Hospital Foundation board of directors, he came off that board this year after being termed out. Segal has provided a wealth of financial acumen to the City that will be hard to replace.
“I’m not disappearning and my wife and I are not moving from Arcadia,” he said, “but I’ve committed my fair share of time.”
Segal will leave on a high note. The hallmark of his time on the Council and in his final stint as Mayor has been spearheading the recent completion of new four-year contracts with all five bargaining units (unions), an effort that has been in the works in Arcadia for six years and which Segal made the goal of his one-year term as Mayor at his swearing-in last April in coordination with City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto and others. There were multiple firsts achieved in the process:
Only eight weeks spent negotiating and reaching agreements with all five unions — each unit agreed to come to the table in the spirit of trying to complete the process quickly without the usual strategies of opening offers that were intentionally far apart and un-workable.
No attorneys came to the bargaining table for the unions or the City, saving the City $75,000 – $100,000 in legal fees.
Reached agreement with every bargaining unit.
A four-year deal instead of going through the process every year or two. Although the agreements resulted in a higher-than-usual 10% increase overall as compared to the typical annual 1.5% – 2% boost, the higher payments will largely be offset by the savings in manpower and resources associated with each negotiation process, as well as the legal costs.
Resolution months in advance of annual budget process, allowing the City to more accurately prepare and implement a budget, knowing exactly what its union expenses will be.
Roger Chandler
The two other Council seats being vacated in April are those of former Mayors Bob Harbicht and Peter Amundson, who are both termed out. The other two current long-serving Council members who are in mid-term and have each been Mayor multiple times are Gary Kovacic and current Mayor Pro Tem John Wuo. In recent years these four along with Segal and Chandler have been rotating on and off the Council.
Roger Chandler, a former multi-term Council member who last served as Mayor in 2007-08, moved to Arcadia in 1982 and raised two sons here with his wife Jane. He has been involved in Arcadia politics since 1986. His last campaign was in 2008 when he ran virtually unopposed with current Council member Gary Kovacic. Chandler has completed his mandatory two-year hiatus after serving two consecutive four-year terms that ended in 2012. He was with the County Sheriff’s Department 24 years before retiring and becoming Chief of Police of the Los Angeles City Housing Authority. Roger and his wife Jane, have lived in Arcadia for over 36 years and they have two sons.
Sho Tay
Sho Tay has lived in Arcadia about 30 years where he and his wife Sherry have raised their two children. He is a retired businessman and continues to be a business entrepreneur and serve on the boards of many local community organizations. He finished fourth of six candidates in an election for the same three seats in 2010 when three incumbents and/or previous Mayors were all re-elected.
All candidates will be offered their own free blog here on ArcadiasBest.com to post whatever they want as often as they want, once the City declares them eligible later this month.
Thomas Beck
The three first-time campaigners:
Thomas Patrick Beck is a founding partner of Thon, Beck, Vanni, Callahan & Powell, a Pasadena law firm from which he recently retired. He earned a BA from Loyola Marymount in 1973, graduated Loyola Law School in 1977, moved to Arcadia in 1985, and has four children who attended Highland Oaks Elementary and Foothill Middle School.
Paul Van Fleet
Paul E. Van Fleet is an Insurance Claims Representative who moved to Arcadia in 1998 after living in multiple other cities in the U.S. and spending a year teaching English in Taiwan. He earned a BA in Geography in 1980 and an Economics degree in 1983 from Rutgers University, and has studied Chinese cultural and language classes at PCC. (No photo available yet.)
Burton Brink
Burton L. Brink is a native of Arcadia who graduated AHS in 1982 and his family has lived here 46 years. He is a Sergeant with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department where he has worked since 1989.
Each person who filed must have at least 20 signatures on their petitions validated as registered Arcadia voters by the City Clerk’s office, a process most likely to be complete by this Friday, Jan. 17. Each candidate was required to pick up the required application paperwork at the City Clerk’s office at City Hall, get 20 valid signatures on a petition (30 are recommended), and file everything, including a $2,500 fee, by the deadline.
Election Day is April 8 but that serves more as a deadline this time with ballots only accepted this time by mail. Nonetheless, the election is expected to cost the City somewhere between $90,000 – $120,000.
— By Scott Hettrick