Opting for special election targets
March 7 date – next city municipal
elections; Tanaka’s term expires
The Gardena City Council voted to appoint an interim mayor to fill the post left vacant by Mayor Paul Tanaka, who was removed from office following his conviction of Sheriff’s Department scandal charges in April.
The council’s consensus at the July 12 Council Meeting was to avoid a special election — which would take place in conjunction with the November presidential election.
Opting for special election targets
March 7 date – next city municipal
elections; Tanaka’s term expires
The Gardena City Council voted to appoint an interim mayor to fill the post left vacant by Mayor Paul Tanaka, who was removed from office following his conviction of Sheriff’s Department scandal charges in April.
The council’s consensus at the July 12 Council Meeting was to avoid a special election — which would take place in conjunction with the November presidential election.
The City’s has a 60-day deadline — ends Aug. 26 — to find a mayor.
Councilman Dan Medina made a motion to appoint former Gardena Mayor Don Dear to fill the vacancy until Tanaka’s term expires next March. Medina’s motion of Dear was not seconded, but he did offer reasons why the retired official would be a good choice.
“Don Dear said he would be our mayor between now and March,” Medina said. “He doesn’t want to get paid and he doesn’t want to run for mayor because he’ll lose out on the pension and PERS and all of the other stuff he’s got. It’s a suggestion for us to have five bodies on the dais without having any agendas with regards to him running for mayor.”
Dear served as Gardena mayor in the 1980s and into the ‘90s, before term limits were adopted. His last year in office was 1999, when he retired.
Gardena resident Terry Kennedy, who spoke at the July meeting, said he favors an appointment as opposed to a special election due to budget concerns. With a special election costing upwards of $40,000, Kennedy said the money would be wasted.
“You work for us, you don’t work for you,” Kennedy told Council Members. “You work for the people. If you spent all this money, tens of thousands of dollars, it would just be for one of you to have the honor of being mayor for a month [before having to refile for the mayor position in time for a November election.]
Kennedy shared his thoughts on an appointment, suggesting former council candidate Art Kaskanian, as well as former State Assemblyman Steve Bradford. However, Kennedy said his preference would be for the council to take no action at this time, and allow the voters to decide at the March general election.
“I think the best choice is to do nothing,” Kennedy said. “The Hippocratic Oath for doctors: Do no harm. That should be your motto too. Do no harm to us and do no harm to the budget.”
Gardena Mayor Pro Tem Mark Henderson said that the council’s next opportunity to appoint Tanaka’s replacement is the July 26 council meeting.
“I was of the mindset of ‘Why spend money that you don’t have to? Let’s go ahead and work it along until our regular election,” Henderson told the GVN.
For an appointment, Henderson said the selection process goes like this: somebody makes a motion of a person they would like to appoint, somebody would then have to second that motion and then the council would have to have a vote to see if all parties agree to select that person.
Although the conviction of Tanaka is an unfortunate situation for Gardena, Henderson said the city will continue to move forward.
“The impact is that we just keep rolling because there is no one individual that’s above a community.”
