Who will be the next mayor?

Woodland city council to consider violating city ordinance

It’s not as big a question as who will be the next president of the United States, but this Tuesday Woodland’s City Council will have to decide on the next mayor.

On Friday, however, after numerous lawsuits ending with a decision by the United States Supreme Court, it now appears that Joe Biden will be selected by the Electoral College on Monday to serve as the 46th president, succeeding Donal Trump, based on the highest voter turnout in history.

In Woodland, there won’t be any lawsuits or Twitter wars, but rather a discussion on whether current

District 1 Mayor Rich Lansburgh continues in his role through 2021 or is succeeded by District 2 Mayor Pro Tempore Tom Stallard.

Normally, under city code, the mayorship rotates each year among the five council members with Stallard next in line, followed by the District 3 council member.

But after Tuesday, there won’t be any District 3 council member, because the position is now held by Angel Barajas, who is advancing to represent the 5th District on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. In another action on Tuesday night, the council is also scheduled to decide whether to hold a special election or appoint a replacement for Barajas.

The rotating mayorship was created in 2016, when the city switched from at- large elections to district elections with the elevation to mayor scheduled within weeks after the formal swearingin of the new council members so the new mayor can take charge at the beginning of the year.

Before 2016, the highest votegetter during the previous election would serve two years as mayor with the person receiving the most number of votes two years later serving a mayor af

ter that.

For decades the system worked, guaranteeing that each new mayor would have a least two years on the council to gain experience. But under the district- election concept, a new councilmember could have a year or less of experience.

The issue was created when on Nov. 17, Stallard proposed that Lansburgh be given an opportunity to serve a second “term” as mayor, “given the fact that his role as mayor over the past year has been constrained in many ways due to COVID- 19,” according to City Manager Ken Hiatt.

Hiatt noted that both the mayor and mayor pro tem serve at the pleasure of the council as a whole. “That means that a majority of the council, at its discretion, can remove the mayor or mayor pro tempore from their position, or appoint a council member as mayor or mayor pro tempore other than the member dictated.”

As a result, if it is the council’s pleasure to pursue Stallard’s proposal, it could appoint Lansburgh to serve as mayor and Stallard as mayor pro tem for the coming year.

That would mean, Stallard would become mayor and District 3 council member would become Mayor Pro Tempore, and the rotation of those positions would continue in the normal manner

in the following years.

“However, if the council takes this approach and then continues with the normal rotation, Councilwoman Mayra Vega ( District 5) would not have the opportunity to serve as mayor during her term on the Council,” Hiatt noted.

Vega would have to wait until the final year of her four- year term, which ends with the November 2024 election. Hiatt said the council might want to make additional changes to the order of rotation to the mayor and mayor pro tempore positions to ensure that Vega will have the opportunity to serve as mayor in her term by changing the order of rotation.

The future order would then become District 1 followed by District 2, then

District 4, then District 5 and finally District 3. Alternatively, the rotation could reset back to the current order after the District 5 council member had served.

“However this would create a longer gap for District 3,” Hiatt noted.

“Any change in the numerical sequence would require an amendment to the City’s Code to provide for that change in the normal order of rotation,” Hiatt stated. “If council directs staff to do so, we could return at the first meeting in January with an ordinance to make the necessary changes to the Municipal Code to implement this or another change in the rotation of the positions.”