Kusumoto unanimous for Mayor, Murphy for pro tem, Mejia disappointed
December 17, 2012 in Uncategorized By: Dave Emerson
(Los Alamitos, 12/17/2012) [This post is only for comments on the election of Mayor and Mayor pro tem tonight. To comment on any other aspect of tonight's two meetings, please go to our "Your Reporting" Post.]
What just happened?
The good news: Mejia nominated Kusumoto for Mayor, & Warren was elected unanimously! Cue “Hallelujah Chorus”
The strange news: Edgar nominated Murphy for Mayor pro tem, Richard’s elected unanimously, Gerri asks for clarification, then expresses her disappointment at not being elected pro tem so she could serve as Mayor in 2014, the last year of her second term on the Council.
Certainly seems like a legitimate complaint to me.
Regardless, Gerri then graciously congratulated Richard who accepted her congratulations.
I’m just trying to figure out what happened.
The word on the street was that Gerri didn’t want Mayor this time, and her nomination of Warren would tend to confirm that. {ad]
I’m guessing somebody either didn’t understand that Gerri was interested in being pro tem, or else she was blindsided.
Am I watching City Council or Survivor?
Dave, I think you’ve hit the bulls eye on this one…I thought I was watching Survivor too.
I have been on associations with voting by peers for officer positions and they can happen very fast as you stated with your “what just happened” comment. The advantage that I thought all of the council members had (the new ones included) is that they have the ability to have some of these items worked out prior to playing them out on the dais (though they may not admit this). I would have thought that all of this would have been worked out prior to the nominations. Apparently, that didn’t happen.
Again, as I have stated in the past when this happened before, this was a major snub of Gerri. Either she didn’t clearly state her intentions leading up to this day or she was snubbed again. Both Troy and Gerri have had the same amount of time on the council: Troy has been mayor twice and mayor pro-tem at least once. Gerri has never been mayor and been pro-tem once. This was a total lack of love for her.
I have grown up with Gerri and gone to the same schools with her. Her heart is 110% into serving our city and doing what’s best for it, I have no doubts about that. Some may question her style at the dais, I call it genuine and much needed passion for our city.
She should have been elected into one of those positions tonight.
The council has abandoned former pro-tem appointments to elect others in their place in the following year. If Mr. Murphy is in tune with that, maybe he will not accept the post next year and offer it to Gerri instead. I’m sure he will look at his options as I’m sure he was stunned too.
Gerri will have served 8 years by the end of next year. With Marilynn serving as mayor during the city centennial, Gerri should at least be able to serve as mayor for her final year on council. She has served our city well and is well deserving of the nod.
As I hit 100% on my prediction with Warren as Mayor and Richard as Mayor Pro Tem, I’m headed to Vegas!
As far as the sniveling Mejia, why would anyone in the community – and clearly including the new City Council, want her as the face or spokesperson for the City? Her delivery from the dais is inarticulate, bullish, ill-informed and just plain unprofessional.
A good call by the unanimous vote to keep Mejia in the wings where she belongs.
None of the council members get or “deserve” to be appointed to positions based upon tenure. If Mejia could learn to speak with a clear thought process, and in a manner that reflects well on the position she holds, she would probably get an opportunity to serve in a leadership role, it’s just not in the cards – she’s not playing with a full deck as they say.
Well done new City Council – let’s see what kind of progress can be made in the new year – maybe by sending Mejia to prep school would help her manners and professionalism.
Doc, your comments are out of line. Madam Mejia HAS been Mayor Pro Tem once. She was slotted to become Mayor (had we followed rotation) and because the council majority changed she was not allowed to do so, but they gave the position to Grose (and we all know how well that turned out).
In the same six years that Edgar has been Mayor TWICE, Mejia has not been Mayor once. If you look at the wonderful things that Edgar’s leadership has brought us, I would say it would have been hard for Mejia to do worse.
My guess is that there was a misunderstanding between all the people involved and that like all misunderstandings, this too will be corrected. I have no idea how, but I expect that we will all be surprised with the congeniality at which misunderstandings will be cleared up under the new authority of this leadership.
well DOC, you can send anyone to charm school, but you really need something to work with. Troy Edgar is an example of that. He went to “charm school” and got real polished. what did we end up with??? A polished turd.
You may not like Gerri’s style, but she is an honest person of character. What you see is what you get.
She is the home town girl who loves her city. She is not a carpet bagging political wannabe flash in the pan.
Los al needs the home town people who are vested in the community. Gerri has been involved for many years. She did not move here as a stepping stone to further her career. She is an honest and fair person.
That is the kind of person I want to govern my town
Not a polished turd!
Well Put!
What crass remarks about a woman who has done more to shine the light on the crony politics and corruption in Los Al than any other person.
Why don’t you post under your own name.
“Doc Holliday” certainly befits you, as you choose to hide behind this name. Doc Holliday was an old west gunslinger, drunk and murdering gambler who died a lonely death in a cheap hotel.
As you head off to Vegas ‘Doc’, if you get aces and eights you may want to look over your shoulder. The ghost of Doc Holliday may be standing there wanting revenge for abusing his name slandering Geri Mejia .
Let’s go easy on “Doc.” For all I know, it might be the ghost himself posting!
Besides, his remark went up before our new “think positive” phase.
Overall I’ve kind of enjoyed Doc’s posts, although they tend to be negative. But he is an equal-opportunity negative poster, not limiting his negative remarks to any one “side” of our Council.
And it’s got to be tough being positive after dying a lonely death in a cheap hotel. Shoot, I wouldn’t even want to die a lonely death in a five star hotel. Actually, my personal plan for the end of the world at 3:11 tomorrow morning Los Al time is to die asleep with my lovely wife at home. I’ve had a pretty good life, and I’m ok with sleeping through the end of the world.
But I digress. Suffice it to say that Geri’s a committed hometown gal with a lot of street smarts that’s stood up for our community repeatedly against 4 to 1 odds, and that’s as lonely as it gets on the Council.
She’s already been Mayor pro tem, she still could be this year, and, regardless, she could also serve as mayor in 2014 whether she’s pro tem in 2013 or not!
Maybe Doc was simply hitting the bottle too much in anticipation of the end of the world. Maybe he was confusing Geri with another Council Person, or maybe he was confusing the Los Alamitos City Council with the Los Angeles City Council. Probably just some innocent mistake. . . .
My guess is our new Council will work out some system of rotation in the light of a public Council meeting, possibly with staff research and input, making Mayor selection Brown Act violations or confusion a thing of the past.
Because our current Council, collectively, is smart enough to do that.
I’m positive!
Survivor? yes exactly!
Guess what Troy was in scramble mode since the election when his tribe become the minority .
Troy said that he has already has a sit down with the new Council Members .I can only imagine what was said and promised at that sit down.
Troy knows that by positioning Richard for Mayor next year that leaves Gerri out. That would mean when re election comes up in 2 years he would be running against a fellow Council member not current Major. We all know it is harder to knock of somebody that has Major next to their name on the ballot. Warren and Richard just helped Troy not only get re-elected , but more than likely regain a majority and power to run the City with full control once again . What will it take to get you folks to realize Troy is playing a game of chess with all of you and guess what to his credit he is 3 moves ahead. Memo to RIchard you were just used by Troy for Troy. Welcome to the game.
You don’t get to be the CEO of your own company by being an idiot…
so here is a research project for anyone who wants to take it on:
1) Go watch the video of the last meeting.
2) Listen to when Troy states that he has sat down with the two incoming council members.
3) Listen when he describes what they talked about.
4) Go read the Brown Act.
You would figure that after having thrown the Brown Act and allegations of criminal violation of the Brown Act around as much as Troy did in the last year he wouldn’t let himself be taped advising all who could hear that he was again violating the Brown Act.
Maybe my opening statement is wrong and you can be an idiot and CEO of your own company.
It has taken me a few day to digest the turn of events in Los Al from the last meeting. Warren for Mayor and Richard for Pro Tem, sounds like a logical choice.
Lets face it, it is better than the alternative. Can anyone imagine Dean Gross as Mayor right now? No way, I am still trying to get my mind around the fact that he landed back in a seat he was run out of just a short time ago.
How about the heart felt speech given by Richard? I hope he truly has a heart for the city. There are a couple of things that do bother me about the way things played out. Warren has had his seat on the Council for two years now. He ran on a platform of Truth, Trust, and Transparency, which is something that is needed terribly around here.
I am curious, how Warren did not even attempt to nominate his campaign running mate for Mayor Pro tem as she was the one to nominate him for Mayor? It has been abundantly apparent, that she has continued to support his position and strongly back him on the dias over and over again.
Once again, there was no discussion, explanation, or attempt to show the residents of Los Al how these conclusions were reached. As for Richard, I am also shocked that he made no mention during his heart felt speech, of the fact that Council-woman Mejia walked the neighborhoods for hours on end, especially Carrier Row, to help get his name and signs placed throughout. I attended an event held there and personally witnessed the amount of support he received from Mejia and friends who came to my door, so I know this to be true.
The position of Mayor is one of a figure head only in Los Al so it really does not matter who is in the seat. I am not dis-satisfied by the selections which were made, frankly I think it is a good choice but not the best choice available. There should have been an attempt, at least, to get back to a rotation which should have included a nomination for Mejia for one position or the other. I would have liked to see a little more discussion on the reorganization is all.
I know Council-woman Mejia has a heart for this city and she will continue to be the true voice of the people, especially those from CARRIER ROW!
If anyone ever wondered why I like Warren on City Council, you saw it.
In the past you knew what was going to happen. It was all a big dance in the public after the whole process had been worked out in the backroom. Did anyone NOT think that Stephens, Edgar and Poe hashed out having Poe as queen of the city for the 50th? Really? Kabuki theater is all we got.
Now we had a transition play out that wasn’t rehearsed. Where there were no prior discussions that violated the Brown Act. Surprise! Yes, it was not what anyone expected. But that doesn’t mean that we have seen the end of it either.
Gerri was vocal about her issue, and unlike prior City Councils where the leadership didn’t care about anyone but themselves, we have a group of people in there now that do listen.
I suspect that Richard didn’t give any thought to the issue in the moment, and now that he has he must be aware that somehow this must be addressed or else it will become a thorn in the interactions between the council members. Warren also is not looking for strife between the members, but looking for a way to get past the strife of the last six years in our city.
If I were to be placing a bet, it would be that January will have surprises for everyone. I don’t know if they will come from Warren or from Richard, but I suspect that the misunderstanding will be addressed. I don’t know how, but I suspect it will be in a way that should get 3-2 support if not 4-1 (5-0 would be nice, but I really do expect Edgar to do a great deal of voting alone just to be different).
Gerri did the right thing by expressing her disappointment. I would like to believe that Warren and Richard as the leadership will do the right thing in figuring out how to overcome that misunderstanding to the benefit of the community (and Gerri I hope).