Lynwood : First Black Mayor Selected
Councilman Robert Henning has been selected as the first black mayor of the predominantly minority City of Lynwood.
Henning, in 1983 the first black to be elected to the City Council, was chosen on a unanimous vote of the five-member council. Council members are elected at large and the mayor is selected for a one-year term by council members.
Henning, 42, was nominated by newly elected Councilwoman Evelyn Wells, the first black woman to serve on the council. Wells, 38, also is the first woman to be elected to the council in 25 years.
Henning described his selection as “historic” for the city of 51,000, which is 20% white, 34% black and 43% Latino.
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