Agoura Hills mayoral rotation is called into question

John Edelston John Edelston, an Agoura Hills council member, would like to change the way the city changes mayors.

Prior to the city council reorganization meeting last week, Edelston moved to postpone the selection of Mayor Pro Tem Dan Kuperberg in order to give the newly seated council an opportunity to look at how the selection process for mayor is handled.

New council member William Koehler seconded the motion, but it was voted down four to one.

In Agoura Hills, the city council member who receives the highest number of votes is named mayor pro tem. Typically, the mayor pro tem is the next in line to become mayor.

Edelston says the selection process isn’t fair.

Weber was named the city’s new mayor based on the number of votes he earned in 2001. And because he was the top vote-getter in this year’s election, he will serve as mayor for a fourth time before Koehler and fellow council member Harry Schwarz have a chance to take the seat for the first time.

In the 2003 election, Edelston lost to Kuperberg by 12 votes. Had the vote been reversed, Edelston would have been mayor pro tem this year and mayor next year.

Edelston claims the current selection process favors incumbents.

“The current succession guidelines establishes a method whereby an outgoing mayor will serve as mayor again before firsttime elected council members are added to the rotation,” he said.

“Insofar as it is possible, each council member should have a fair and equal opportunity to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem,” said Edelston. “In the vast majority of elections, incumbents will always receive more votes than will a challenger.”

Outgoing city Councilmember Ed Corridori isn’t sure if the incumbent’s edge is significant. He said challengers finished ahead of incumbents at least four times in the 11 elections held in the city since 1982 when the city of Agoura Hills was incorporated. “And in one of those 11 elections, there was no challenger except for a write-in candidate,” he said.

Still, Edelston wants to scrutinize the rotation process in an open council forum. He’s been unsuccessful in trying to get the issue placed on the agenda for future discussion.

“A challenger may not get to be mayor for five or six years versus other councils where it happens in four,” Edelston said. “The power of mayor is that they get to set the agenda and promote their issues.”

As the former mayor, Corridori said he would have addressed the issue of mayoral rotation if more than just one council member had expressed concern. While city procedures do not require that two council members suggest an item for the agenda, “it is not an efficient use of time to agendize an issue when there is only person who supports it,” said Corridori.

The two members “requirement,” he added, “is a courtesy that is built into the norms to make it easier for council members to get an item on the agenda in the event the mayor does not want it there. They don’t need a majority at a public meeting, but only two. The mayor is expected to honor such a request.”

Mayor Weber said although Edelston’s request at the reorganization meeting was made at an inopportune time, he will agendize the issue at a future date.

“That night wasn’t the time to do it,” said Weber. “There is probably real merit to allowing someone a chance (to serve as mayor) within their four years (on the city council),” he added.

Ultimately, the mayoral rotation is at the discretion of the council. In Calabasas, the city council has used both a simple rotation and a rotation based on the largest number of votes as Agoura Hills does.

“We have done it both ways,” said Tony Coroalles, Calabasas city manager. “Our current mayor was elected after receiving the greatest number of votes. Our current mayor pro tem is the next in line due to longest time since being mayor . . . We have also had members skipped over.”

In Moorpark, the mayor is directly elected by voters every two years.

“It’s strictly a political decision made by the sitting council,” said Coroalles, who added that “a council should be very careful of intended consequences if they deviate from a scheduled rotation.”

According to Edelston, “The process is equally as important as the outcome.”