Laguna Beach City Council votes to keep the mayor’s seat as an appointed position, rather than rotate it
Laguna Beach City Council approved Tuesday an array of cleanup changes to city law, chief among them how the positions of mayor and mayor pro tem will be selected.
The first reading of the revisions passed unanimously during the March 12 City Council meeting with little discussion from the dais and none from the public during the hearing.
In addition to other changes, including language clarifying that disruptive behavior by members of the public at council meetings could result in removal and a misdemeanor, the selection of a mayor and mayor pro tem by way of a council majority vote was codified.
Both positions were outlined as one-year terms until a successor is named.
“We’ve always done it that way,” Laguna Beach Mayor Sue Kempf said after the meeting. “Most of the time, we elect a new mayor. We’ve had some extraordinary circumstances lately with COVID — most cities have — and that was difficult to navigate.”
Councilman George Weiss voted for the revisions, even as he disagreed how mayors are currently selected.
“I think that the policy is wrong, but I didn’t want to object to the other changes that were included and throw out the baby with the bathwater,” Weiss said after the meeting. “We should go back to rotating the positions. That’s the fair thing to do.”
An agenda item brought by Councilman George Weiss sought to gain support for a rotation of the leadership roles on the Laguna Beach City Council. A vote was not required to keep the status quo.
The issue proved more contentious when Weiss introduced a proposal in November to rotate council members into the posts, which he argued were ceremonial.
Some residents in support of his proposed policy change claimed it would cure the appearance that some elected officials were purposefully being shut out as well as honor the will of the voters.
“All of you were elected by all of us,” Michelle Manda said. “You are disenfranchising a very large number of residents [by] not [allowing] everyone to get a chance at being mayor or mayor pro tem.”
Since 2018, Councilman Bob Whalen had held the title all but one year, including three successive terms during the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Resident Chris Quilter supported the status quo and claimed Weiss just wanted to be mayor.
“I find it rather offensive, the insinuation that somehow the fact that Bob has been mayor many times is somehow suspicious,” he said. “There is nothing wrong with the tradition we have.”
Weiss thanked residents who agreed with his proposal but noted that he didn’t solicit their supportive statements.
“I think it’s fair, I think it’s democratic,” he added. “I would also probably agree to an elected mayor position every two years, if we could do that as an alternative. But I think not rotating it is not the right thing to do.”
The newly selected mayor says undergrounding utility lines along Laguna Canyon Road is one of her top priorities. Council members unanimously selected Alex Rounaghi to serve as mayor pro tem.
Prompted by the debate, Councilman Alex Rounaghi asked City Atty. Megan Garibaldi about what city law said about mayoral selections. Garibaldi responded that the municipal code did not spell out specifics but that state law compelled the council to select the post.
Weiss’ proposal failed for a lack of support by his fellow council members.
The ordinance council members approved Tuesday night added clear-cut language about the appointments.
In December, council members voted to have Sue Kempf serve as mayor with Weiss abstaining.
Rounaghi became mayor pro tem by a unanimous vote during that same meeting.
Kempf previously served as mayor in 2022.
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