LA PALMA : Council Picks Linn as Mayor for 2nd Term

Wally D. Linn, a 55-year-old banker who was first elected to the City Council in 1992, has been elected by fellow council members to a second consecutive term as mayor.

Council members unanimously elected Linn to another one-year term at their meeting this week. They also elected Councilman Duane F. Schuster as mayor pro tem.

Linn said he does not believe the city will be badly affected by the county’s bankrupt investment pool.

“I do believe that with calm action, we’ll be OK over a period of time,” he said. The city has about $5 million invested in the county’s fund. Almost all of the city’s investment is redevelopment money--funds that are not used to pay day-to-day operations, such as police salaries.

“We still have money for (city) operations,” Linn said. “We’re very fortunate that this does not impair our general fund.”

He said that several months ago he became alarmed at the way the county fund was being handled. At his recommendation, he said, the city began incrementally withdrawing its money from the county pool.

The city at one time had $8 million in the fund, and it had reduced that amount by about $3 million at the time of the county’s crisis, Linn said. “I think we did the prudent thing,” Linn said.