Stephen Del Guercio becomes city’s mayor for third time

La Cañada Flintridge Councilman Stephen Del Guercio was named to his third stint as mayor of the city on Monday, replacing David Spence..

Spence leaves the post after having served five terms, making him the longest-serving mayor in the city’s history. But Del Guercio also has plenty of civic experience, as Councilman Donald Voss noted when he nominated Del Guercio.

“I’d love to nominate a man who is entering his 12th year of distinguished service on the council, a two-time mayor and former planning commissioner [who has] lived in La Cañada almost his entire life, knows the community inside and out, and works tirelessly to improve the community, Steve Del Guercio,” Voss said.

The mayor of the city is selected each year by other members of the council.

Del Guercio said on Tuesday that he is looking forward to trying to boost the fortunes of businesses on Foothill Boulevard.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the Town Center area, but we can look farther west on Foothill,” he said.

Del Guercio said the city also wants to end the infrastructure problems that cause frequent power outages and interruptions.

“The City Council has told [Southern California] Edison we’ve reached a point where we’re not taking excuses anymore … we’re not going to subject the community to the uncertainties they’ve been experiencing with the electrical power,” he said.

Representatives from the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles County Fire and Sheriff’s departments and Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s office came to the meeting to thank Spence. Chamber representative Pat Anderson presented Spence with a statuette of a golden peacock — a nod to Spence’s experience dealing with controversy regarding the city’s resident fowl.

Del Guercio said the friendly rearranging of council seats was in contrast to the “discord” that inspired him to get involved with the council in 2001.

“I got involved on the council at a time when things weren’t quite running as smoothly as they are now,” he said. “I thought a more even keel and a more reasoned voice could help to bring the cohesion back to the community and get it moving in the right direction again.”