Partisanship Charged in 3-2 Vote for Fullerton Mayor

The Fullerton City Council elected Richard Ackerman as mayor Tuesday night on a 3-2 vote, prompting the losing mayoral candidate to charge that the move threatened to turn the local council into a “a political arena.”

Councilwoman Molly McClanahan, bypassed for the second consecutive mayoral selection, expressed her disappointment after the vote and said: “Small politics has no place in this community. Fairness does.”

Councilman Chris Norby, who voted for McClanahan--the only Democrat on the five-member council--called Ackerman’s selection “a slap in the face” to Fullerton voters.

Record Number of Votes

In the Nov. 4 election, McClanahan won reelection with the highest number of votes in the city’s history, Norby repeatedly pointed out to council members and the crowd that packed the council chambers.

Norby said he was surprised McClanahan “didn’t even get mayor pro tem.” Councilwoman Linda LeQuire was elected on a 3-2 vote to that post.

LeQuire said she would not feel comfortable with McClanahan as mayor, a position that is “no longer a ceremonial one.”

Fullerton’s two-year term for mayor gives the officeholder “greater and more opportunity for positions on key committees and commissions, especially at the county level, which can have significant effect on our city,” LeQuire told a standing-room-only crowd.

More than half of the 200 people in the crowd bitterly disagreed with the council majority’s assertion that McClanahan did not represent them.

Those wearing yellow stickers reading “Molly for Mayor. It’s only fair,” expressed anger after the meeting.

“I feel so powerless to have these three people make a decision for the rest of the community,” Fullerton resident Dorian Hunter said.

“She’s an independent woman who thinks on her own. She has no special interest group,” Fullerton resident Carol Adams said. “Molly McClanahan is a very moderate person. I fight with her constantly because I’m a liberal and she’s not at all.”

But Ackerman supporters, who made up slightly less than half the audience, were clearly pleased by his selection.

McClanahan and Norby are the only two council members who have not served as mayor. Norby said he had not expected to serve before McClanahan, however, because he has less seniority on the council.

Ackerman served a one-year term as mayor in 1982-83, and LeQuire was mayor in 1983-84.

Norby said that until two years ago, when A.B. (Buck) Catlin was elected mayor instead of McClanahan, the job traditionally was rotated among council members. Norby suggested that Fullerton should follow the lead of cities such as Anaheim and Orange and allow the voters to pick the mayor.

McClanahan said, as she did two years ago when she was bypassed for mayor by Catlin, that she is a conservative. Prior to the mayoral vote, she told the crowd, “Two years ago, I was told (by the council) that I did not represent the citizens of this community but the recent election proved otherwise.”

But Catlin said the city’s mayor “must be accepted by the people outside the city.” Both Catlin and LeQuire said during the meeting that McClanahan did not represent either the council majority or the majority view of the community, which they repeatedly described as “conservative.”

But LeQuire denied that McClanahan’s Democratic registration was a factor in bypassing her.

“Philosophy plays a role; partisanship does not,” LeQuire said after the meeting.

In choosing a mayor, she said, the following considerations must be weighed: a person’s leadership abilities; his or her philosophy; the person’s role in the Orange County chapter of the League of California Cities, and rapport with higher elected officials in the county, as well as how the person would use the mayoral privilege to make appointments and endorsements.

Nothing Personal

But LeQuire insisted their choice was nothing personal.

“While I could not support Molly for the position of mayor, I have told her personally and I have said publicly, I hold her in highest regard and respect. I appreciate the work and the perspective she brings to the council. She is a fine person,” LeQuire said.,

As for Norby’s assertion that as the highest vote-getter in the Nov. 4 election for two council seats, McClanahan deserved the mayor’s post, LeQuire and others pointed out that through an error, Catlin was not listed as an incumbent and yet he garnered the second highest number of votes.

Ackerman, who did not address the mayoral selection controversy, commended Catlin for the job he did as mayor and presented him with a plaque and a hat that said “the buck never stops.”