Before council members voted 3-2 to elect new Councilman Marty Richman as vice Mayor on Monday, Mayor Ignacio Velazquez made an attempt to appoint new District 3 Councilwoman Honor Spencer to the role.
Velazquez openly reasoned that it’s her turn because there’s been a rotation among districts for the vice mayor role, but there is nothing in the law that stipulates the council follow such a routine.
“At this point, I’d like to appoint council member Spencer as our new vice mayor for this year,” Velazquez said. “If there’s a consensus with the council…”
There wasn’t a consensus, as Richman spoke up.
“I believe that our process says there’s no rotation specified,” Richman said.
“I will nominate council member Spencer, as that’s the way we’ve done in the past,” Velazquez then said.
But council members ended up voting 3-2 against that motion. New District 2 Councilman Rolan Resendiz sided with Velazquez, with the other three against it.
The mayor then responded.
“No? You guys want to break up the rotation,” he said. “OK. Interesting.”
New District 1 Councilwoman Carol Lenoir then made a motion for Richman as vice mayor. The vote was 3-2 in favor of his election.
“Council member Richman, you are now Vice Mayor Richman,” the mayor said.
“Thank you,” Richman responded before taking the oath of office from the mayor.
