FOUNTAIN VALLEY : New Mayor to Take City Hall to People

Councilwoman Laurann Cook’s goals as the city’s new mayor include making City Hall accessible to the people it is supposed to serve, she said this week.

“To summarize my goals, I want to continue the tradition,” Cook said Tuesday night after her council colleagues selected her for the one-year post. “The council will continue to make its citizens its No. 1 priority.”

Cook, 44, has been on the council since 1986 and served as mayor once before, in 1989. She replaces Mayor James D. Petrikin, who moves back to a regular council seat. Councilman John Collins was selected mayor pro tem.

When Cook was mayor three years ago, she established evening office hours at City Hall so citizens could express their concerns after work.

This time, Cook, a 19-year Fountain Valley resident, will bring City Hall to the citizens. Twice a month, she plans to hold neighborhood forums throughout the city.

“Sometimes people are intimidated by City Hall,” Cook said, adding that she wants to show that city leaders are accessible to the citizens.

The first meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 11 in a neighborhood in the southeast area of the city at the home of Jack and Nancy Cooper. Cook said she is looking for other residents willing to host the forums.

During her one-year mayoral stint, Cook also wants to improve the city’s relationship with businesses in the city. Cook said she plans to develop a joint venture with the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce, the city and business owners.

Cook said it’s also important for the city to keep established businesses in town and encourage new businesses to generate additional sales-tax revenue.

“Fountain Valley is a solvent community. We have a balanced budget and a lot had to do with sales tax” revenue, she said.

Cook, first elected to the council in 1986, said it wasn’t easy at first being the second woman to ever be elected to the council. Barbara A. Brown, who is no longer on the council, was the city’s first female mayor, in 1987.

“I think women have to prove themselves--and I did my homework even harder and familiarized and researched every issue in the city,” said Cook, mother of two daughters and married to her husband, Richard, for 21 years.

“Being the second woman, it was important people realized I have merits and strengths,” she said. “It’s a challenge sometimes being the only woman up here, but it’s also a pleasure.”