Partin Elected Mayor of Cypress

The City Council this week elected Councilman Richard Partin by a narrow margin as the city’s new mayor.

Partin, who was mayor pro tem, was chosen over Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry by a 3-2 vote.

Councilwoman Cecilia L. Age, now in the third year of her first term, was chosen by the same margin to serve as mayor pro tem.

Councilwoman Joyce C. Nicholson and Kerry cast the dissenting votes. Nicholson had nominated Kerry for both seats, saying that she “had been kept out of the positions by the council up to this point.”

She added that Kerry received the majority of the votes when she was elected in 1988 and therefore should be given the opportunity to serve in either seat.

The mayor pro tem position traditionally leads to the mayoral seat. Both seats are rotated annually.

This is Partin’s second time as mayor. He served in the post in 1983-84 during his first full term on the council. Partin started as a councilman in 1981, when he was appointed to fill a vacant seat for one year. He was elected in 1982 and reelected in 1990.