Lynwood : Wells Serving as Mayor

Councilwoman Evelyn Wells has become mayor of Lynwood by default.

“I’m mayor now. It might be for a day or two weeks, but right now I’m the mayor,” said Wells, who was elected to the City Council in 1985.

The council, scheduled to undergo its annual reorganization, failed to do so Tuesday when the four members present deadlocked on the issue. The fifth member was absent due to emphysema and pneumonia.

On a split vote, the council, deadlocked over deferring the matter until Councilman John Byork returns.

Mayor Robert Henning, who had been mayor for a year, then resigned and turned over his duties to Wells, who was serving as mayor pro tem.

“Normally, we have had the mayor pro tem take over the mayor’s seat,” Henning said.

“My term is up as of tonight. I tender my resignation. The mayor pro tem takes over.”

The mayor’s position is primarily ceremonial, with the mayor presiding over meetings. The term lasts for one year.

Councilman E. L. Morris and newly sworn-in Councilman Paul H. Richards voted to withhold naming a mayor until Byork returns. Wells and Henning voted against the delay.

City Atty. E. Kurt Yeager said state law allows the mayor pro tem to take over the duties of the mayor due to a resignation.