Councilman’s Conflict With Son Costs Him Mayor’s Seat

Former Commerce Mayor Pro Tem James B. Dimas Sr. has been locked out of his home in a conflict with his son and the domestic dispute appears to have cost him the mayor’s seat.

Because of the dispute, Dimas says he has been living outside the city.

“There was a concern that the council would have been criticized by residents if he was elected mayor,” said Mayor Ruth Aldaco, who was named to the city’s top post Tuesday. “You elect a resident to be on the City Council.”

Typically, the mayor pro tem is chosen to serve as mayor for a year and the two posts rotate among council members. But at Tuesday’s council meeting, Aldaco was the only person nominated for mayor. Ruben Batres was selected mayor pro tem, replacing Dimas.

Dimas said he has lived outside the city since the first week of December because of the dispute with his son, James B. Dimas Jr., over the title to their Commerce home.

The councilman lived with friends in Commerce until early December, when he moved in with his new wife, Lleanne Herrera, at her home in South Gate--seven miles south of Commerce City Hall.

City Atty. William Camil has advised the council that the elder Dimas remains eligible to serve on the council. Camil said that residency is determined by a council member’s “intent” to remain permanently in the community, not by a “temporary removal.”