Frank Quintero becomes Glendale’s mayor

Councilman Frank Quintero is Glendale’s newest mayor following a tense tie vote on the dais last week, with the city’s now-former mayor breaking the tie Tuesday.

Councilwoman Laura Friedman said before the vote Tuesday that she planned to vote for Quintero because he doesn’t plan to run for council next April, and this year would be his last chance to have the title.

“It’s a courtesy that I would extend to anyone else on the dais,” Friedman said.

Quintero took his position immediately after the 3-2 vote, with Councilmen Ara Najarian and Rafi Manoukian dissenting.

The vote came a week after a four-member council hit an impasse when deciding who would serve the one-year term following Friedman.

Friedman was absent due to a trip to Glendale’s sister city of Goseong, South Korea, raising the potential that this would have been the first time a mayor would be named without a full council.

But Quintero, Manoukian and Councilman Dave Weaver faced a 2-2-2 split, leaving Friedman to return home to break the tie.

Her vote side-stepped a council tradition to appoint the top vote getter that’s not running in an upcoming election as the mayor. That would have been Manoukian.

“It is unfortunate,” Manoukian said, noting that despite losing the vote, he would work alongside Quintero. “I look forward to a fruitful year coming up working with him to benefit the community.”

The mayor represents the city at events, decides the council agenda and conducts council meetings.

Weaver said Tuesday that he wanted to serve as mayor because he’d been on the council for 16 years and held the title only twice, while former Mayor Larry Zarian, who died in October, served the same number of years and was mayor four times.

Despite voting for Manoukian, Najarian said Quintero has been “a creative, stable and driving force” on the council, and if he wanted to run again, he wouldn’t judge him for breaking his pre-election promise. Quintero announced last week that he would not run for council in April 2013 if he was appointed mayor.

Friedman said she expects Manoukian and Weaver to have other chances at being mayor.

Quintero did not comment on his new position and started the council meeting right after the vote.

“We have business to get to,” he said.

The council plans to review the process of voting for a mayor.

“There’s got to be a better way,” Weaver said.