ELECTIONS : CARSON : City Ponders Best Way to Fill Council Seat

Residents packed the City Council chambers Tuesday to see Michael I. Mitoma sworn in as the city’s first directly elected mayor.

Councilman Peter D. Fajardo was unanimously reelected mayor pro tem. The council also said farewell to Councilwoman Sylvia L. Muise-Perez, whose term expired this year.

With Mitoma leaving his council seat to become mayor, the City Council now has only four members. The council has 30 days to decide whether to appoint someone to fill the vacancy or hold another election.

Because ethnicity became an issue in the campaign between Mitoma, a Japanese American, and James H. Peoples, an African American, the council has felt some pressure to appoint a black person to fill the position.

Mitoma said he favors appointment because it would save the city money and staff time. Although he said he does not have a candidate in mind, his main criterion for selection is public service.

“I will never appoint somebody (who) has never done anything for the community,” Mitoma said. “I don’t give a darn whether they are black or purple. They have to have served the community.”

Keith McDonald, an African American who came in second in a race for the open council seat in the April 12 election, said he thinks residents are tired of the divisiveness that comes with elections.

“I think we need some type of cooling period,” McDonald said. He acknowledged that he would like to be appointed to the seat but said it is important that the council member represent more than just one part of the city.

“They can’t appoint just for color. . . . The council members are going to have to step up to the plate and show leadership,” McDonald said. “I think that all the communities and all areas of the city need to feel that they are represented.”

City Clerk Helen Kawagoe said the city could hold an election that would coincide with the statewide elections Nov. 8. She estimated that adding the council election to that ballot would cost the city about $15,000.