Council’s new mayor to be chosen

Costa Mesa will have a new mayor tonight after the recently elected members of the City Council are sworn in.

The mayor of the city is decided by a vote of the five-member council, as opposed to other cities that ask the electorate to choose a mayor directly. Most of the mayor’s duties are procedural and ceremonial in nature. His or her main responsibilities are to preside over the council meetings, decide who speaks when and keep the meeting orderly.

Mayor Eric Bever holds the position after taking over for former Mayor Allan Mansoor halfway through his term.

Councilwoman Katrina Foley says the position has historically been a rotating one, and that every council member should have a chance to serve as mayor at least once.

“I would be next in line in the rotation. Historically it’s been a rotational type of appointment,” Foley said.

Gary Monahan disagreed on the nature of the position. In the past he has fought for a directly elected mayor, but as long as the decision is in the hands of the City Council, he thinks the members should make a decision based on who they think would be the best candidate, not just who is next in line.

“I believe that the mayor should be elected by the people. It should not be rotating, and it should not be chosen by the City Council,” Monahan said.

He declined to reveal who he was supporting for mayor before tonight’s meeting, but said he was not interested in the position himself because he’s too busy running his business and catching up on council issues.

Mansoor, Leece and Bever could not be reached for comment.

Much of what the mayor needs to do on a day-to-day basis consists of attending events in the community like ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings, and acting as the symbol of the city.

Foley attends many such events, even though she’s not the mayor, and she says she would make a good representative and “cheerleader” for the city.

Given the campaigns that Bever and Councilman-elect Gary Monahan ran against her, supported by Mayor Pro Tem Allan Mansoor and Councilwoman Wendy Leece — the other two members of the council — Foley thinks it is “highly unlikely” she will be elected.

One of the most important responsibilities of the mayor, as the face of the city, is interfacing with politicians from other cities, according to City Manager Allan Roeder. The issues a Costa Mesa mayor needs to deal with are increasingly regional in nature and require the cooperation of neighboring city councils, Roeder said.

Also, keeping meetings on track, focused and civil is primarily the mayor’s responsibility.

“Whoever is chairing the meeting does have a great deal of control in terms of managing the discussion on any given item. They can make the process go smoothly and orderly, or it can be out of hand. I think for a lot of mayors that tends to be a required skill,” Roeder said.

The meeting is at 6 tonight at City Hall.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].