BREA : Council to Choose New Mayor Today

The City Council will choose a new mayor and a mayor pro tem at a special meeting at 5 p.m. today in the council chambers.

City officials said Monday that the reorganization was necessary because of the vacancy created after Mayor Ronald E. Isles resigned last week following his conviction on conflict-of-interest charges.

In a largely ceremonial post, the mayor presides over council meetings and serves as chairman of the Redevelopment Agency. The mayor pro tem acts as mayor in the absence of the mayor and serves as vice chairman of the agency.

By tradition, the mayor pro tem takes over as mayor. However, City Manager Frank Benest said the mayor’s post is “completely open” and anyone from among the four remaining council members may be chosen. Burnie Dunlap is the current mayor pro tem.

The other members of the council are Wayne D. Wedin, Glenn G. Parker and Carrey J. Nelson.

Isles resigned as mayor last week, although it was largely a formality. Municipal Judge Stephen J. Sundvold had already ruled that Isles’ seat was vacated after he pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of conflict of interest and failure to fully report his financial holdings.

Isles had maintained throughout the investigation that he did nothing criminal and that his violations were careless, unintentional errors.

Benest said the city will forgo a special election to fill Isles’ seat because of the closeness of the Nov. 3 election. The new council members will be seated Dec. 1, he said. The mayor and mayor pro tem selected tonight will serve in those posts until then.

Two council seats are on the November ballot. Wedin, who is also facing trial on conflict-of-interest charges, is not running for reelection.