11/16/2021 - AGENDA ITEM 6 - SELECTION OF MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEMAGENDA ITEM NO. 6
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
City of West Covina I Office of the City Manager
DATE: November 16, 2021
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: David Carmany
City Manager
SUBJECT: SELECTION OF MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEM
RECOMMENDATION:
Take appropriate action.
The West Covina Municipal Code (WCMC) governs administration of the City. The following section of
the WCMC pertains to the Mayor duties and selection.
"Sec. 2-21. - Mayor; duties and selection.
(a) The mayor, sometimes herein referred to as the "presiding officer," shall preserve strict order and
decorum at all meetings of the city council. The mayor shall state every question coming before the
council, announce the decision of the council on all subjects and decide all questions of order, subject,
however, to an appeal to the council, in which event a majority vote of the council members present
shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order. Voting on all ordinances shall be by roll
call vote called by the city clerk; and the mayor shall be entitled to vote last on all questions.
(b) The mayor shall be the official head of the city for all ceremonial purposes and shall perform all
duties imposed upon the mayor by the laws of the state or by ordinance of the city. The mayor shall
serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the city council.
(c) The city council shall conduct its annual reorganization during its second regularly scheduled
meeting of November, except in even -numbered years when the reorganization will occur at the time the
city council confirms the official canvass of the municipal election results as required by California
Government Code section 36801.
(d) The order of mayoral succession shall be determined by the length of the current term of
incumbency, as defined by the date of election. When two (2) or more council members have equal
terms of incumbency, the order shall be determined by the highest number of votes received at their
election to the city council.
(e) In the event that the position of mayor or mayor pro tern becomes vacant for any reason, succession
order shall remain the same, however, if both the mayor and the mayor pro tem have changed prior to
the next regularly scheduled reorganization, the council members appointed to complete the vacant
terms shall continue to serve as the mayor and mayor pro tem, respectively, for the term they would have
held in the absence of the vacancy.
Thereafter, the outgoing mayor's name will rotate to the bottom of the previous year's mayoral
succession list, with all other names moving up one (1) position, in order that the outgoing mayor pro
tem shall become the new mayor, and the next council member on the list shall become the new mayor
pro tem.
(f) Newly elected council members shall be added to the bottom of the mayoral succession list,
following the outgoing mayor in that election year's council reorganization. When there are two (2) or
more newly elected council members, the order will be determined by the person who received the
highest number of votes at the election.
(g) Any individual appointed to fill a vacancy in a city council seat shall be added immediately to the
bottom of the mayoral succession list.
(h) The city council by a minimum of four (4) votes may modify the mayoral succession list or remove
and replace the mayor or mayor pro tem at any time."
DISCUSSION:
Pursuant to the WCMC, as the second meeting of November (odd year with no election) the City Council
needs to conduct its annual reorganization. The current order is:
Letty Lopez-Viado, Mayor
Dario Castellanos, Mayor Pro Tem
Rosario Diaz, Councilwoman
Brian Tabatabai, Councilman
Tony Wu, Councilman
Per the succession order, Mayor Pro Tem Castellanos is slated to become Mayor and Councilwoman Diaz is
slated to become Mayor Pro Tem.
Council member Tabatabai and Councilwoman Diaz were both elected to the Council in the 2020 election -
both are added to the bottom of the mayoral succession list, following the outgoing mayor in that election
year's council reorganization. The Council member with the highest number of votes goes first.
Councilwoman Diaz received 3,738 votes and Council member Tabatabai received 3,337 votes,
Prepared by: Mark Perez, Deputy City Clerk
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