Huntington Beach : City Council to Choose New Mayor Tonight

A new mayor and mayor pro tem will be chosen by the seven-member City Council tonight, ending the recent spate of political jockeying for votes that has become a yearly ritual in this city and others.

A vote on whether to appoint Public Works Director Paul Cook as city administrator may also come before the council tonight, city officials said. Cook has served as acting city administrator since Charles Thompson resigned Oct. 16. Council members previously had decided that whoever took the interim post could not be a candidate for the permanent job.

Mayor Pro Tem John Erskine, a freshman councilman elected last November, appeared to have at least three votes--including his own--for mayor. Councilmen Wes Bannister and Tom Mays both said Sunday that they will vote for Erskine. Councilman Peter M. Green, in the last year of his four-year term, also has three votes for the mayor job: his own and those of council members Ruth Finley and Grace Winchell.

Green met Sunday with outgoing Mayor Jack Kelly, who holds the deciding vote. Green declined to discuss their meeting, except to say that he doubted he had Kelly’s support for the largely ceremonial post. Kelly could not be reached for comment Sunday.

But Green said he was concerned about what he called “back-door deals” between Councilmen Wes Bannister and Tom Mays that allegedly resulted in a vote swap. Green said the deal calls for Mays to change his position against hiring Cook, who was named acting city administrator on the express condition that he would not seek or be given the permanent post. In return for Mays’ vote for Cook, Bannister would support Mays for mayor pro tem, Green said.

But Mays denied the vote swap Sunday. He said Cook’s management style to date has impressed the entire City Council and most community activists, pro-growth and no-growth supporters alike. Despite the rave review, some--including Mays until recently--have said they should be true to their original decision not to consider the interim appointee for the job.

However, Bannister said Sunday that he had pressured Mays about changing his vote to support Cook.