GARDEN GROVE : Leyes Sworn In as Council Member

Mark Leyes, an environmental impact analyst, was sworn in this week for his first term on the City Council. Also seated were Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan and Councilman Robert F. Dinsen.

Councilman Frank Kessler was voted the new mayor pro tem by a unanimous vote of the council.

Stepping down was Councilman Raymond T. Littrell, who chose not to run for a third term.

“I think that even with changing (financial) priorities, the city has done a good job,” said Littrell, who was presented with a plaque honoring his service on the council.

Littrell praised the Grove Shakespeare Festival, telling its members “you have a much healthier organization without being backed by the taxpayer.”

Littrell, unlike Leyes, opposed spending city money to fund the festival.

“There’s a new face on the council, and potentially a new attitude on the council,” Leyes, 32, said. He added that the city faces major problems in crime, traffic and finances that are “not just knocking on the door, they’re threatening to knock down the walls.”