A week before the Arcadia City Council election day on April 10, Councilman Mickey Segal pleaded for people in the community to step up and run for election in order to bring much-needed new blood and two or three new faces to the five-member City Council.
Mickey Segal in a 2010 campaign photo
Segal’s plea was referring to the next election two years from now in 2014, and followed his lengthy verbal scolding of three current candidates who would each bring a new face to the Council but whom Segal made clear are not candidates he favors to replace current Mayor and candidate Gary Kovacic, or former Mayor and current candidate John Wuo. Kovacic and Wuo, along with Segal and fellow Councilmen Peter Amundson and Bob Harbict have each served many years on the Council.
Using his free comment time prior to the agenda items at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, April 3 — the first meeting attended by new City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto, Segal criticized the three new-face challengers as being uniformed and misinformed on many issues they have raised during their campaign. He characterized Henry Nunez as someone who went on a hunger strike and laid down on railroad tracks to protest the candidates in the 2010 race but noted that he has not repeated any of those stunts now that he is a candidate himself. Segal noted that Mary Dougherty was on the school board for 16 years but hadn’t done that for 10 years and has now chosen “this point in her life” to run for City Council. He challenged her positions on mansions and unfunded retirement benefits, saying neither was an issue of major significance except when attempting to stir interest for her campaign.
Segal also criticized candidates Nunez and Sho Tay for suggesting the City Council could have done more to revitalize Downtown Arcadia. He says the City has poured millions into the area over many years with little improvement. The Council cannot improve the fortunes of the area, he said, but it is up to business owners and local shoppers.
But then he ended his comments by saying it is very important for the City Council to get an infusion of new ideas from new Councilmen to replace the two or three current Councilmen who will be up for re-election or termed out in 2014, including Segal, who will be up for re-election to his fourth four-year term, should he decide to run again. Mayor Pro Tem Harbicht and former Mayor Amundson will be termed out after two consecutive four-year terms in their current stints.
It was then that Segal pleaded with qualified Arcadia residents to start thinking about running for City Council in 2014 in order to change the complexion of the Council.
— By Scott Hettrick