Glendale delays naming new mayor

With three candidates up for the position of mayor and none backed by a majority vote, Glendale won’t be getting a new mayor until next week.

The standoff, caused by the lack of a full City Council on Tuesday due to Mayor Laura Friedman’s absence, prompted at least one on the dais to ask for a redesign of the mayor appointment process.

“We’ve got to clean this up,” said Councilman Ara Najarian.

Councilmen Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver each nominated themselves and voted for each other, while Najarian nominated Councilman Rafi Manoukian. Weaver and Quintero voted against Manoukian, and Manoukian and Najarian voted against the other two.

An unofficial council rule keeps council members running for reelection out of the running for mayor because such a position could bring more clout at the polls.

That rule technically leaves Weaver and Manoukian for the job, but Quintero said if he became mayor he would not run for reelection in 2013.

“No, I will not run again,” Quintero said after Weaver asked him to clarify a rumor that he would not run.

It was the first time an attempt to appoint a mayor took place without a full council, said City Atty. Mike Garcia.

Friedman was absent due to a trip to Glendale’s sister city of Goseong, South Korea, for a dinosaur exposition. At last week’s meeting, Friedman said the event was important to Goseong and an opportunity she couldn’t refuse.

The three nominated candidates will be rolled over to next week’s council meeting for Friedman to weigh in. The first candidate to get three votes will become mayor. That process irked Najarian, because whoever’s nominated first has an advantage.

Weaver said that in the past, council members often took turns in succession as mayor to depoliticize the appointment, but Manoukian countered that past councils have also selected the candidate who received the most votes during an election and promoted previous chairs of the Redevelopment Agency to the top council spot.

Manoukian got the most votes in the 2011 election and served as chair of the Redevelopment Agency before its state-mandated shutdown in February.