Council will elect new mayor in less than two weeks
It is only a matter of days before Santa Monica has a new mayor.
Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein will relinquish his post on Dec. 10 when the city council votes in a new leader.
Feinstein, who will serve as a city council member until his term expires in 2004, conducted his last city council meeting as mayor this week.
On Dec. 10, three city council members who won re-election will be sworn in and the seven member council will pick a new mayor.
Feinstein, 43, said it has been an honor and a privilege for him to serve as the city’s mayor — a job that he enjoyed thoroughly.
“That being said, (Tuesday) night felt like the beginning of summer vacation when you’re in grade school,” he said. “When I got back into the council office after the meeting was over I let out several deep therapeutic yells, as I felt the extra responsibilities slide off my back like water off a duck’s back.”
After the results are certified, the council will adjourn and Stewart will begin administering the oath of office to the winners of the election for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board, the Santa Monica College Board, the Rent Control Board and the city council.
Since all the victors of this year’s city council election are incumbents, Stewart will ask them to be seated and conduct a roll call of the members.
Once that’s complete, the new council will begin deliberations on which of them should serve as mayor for the next two years. Council members can nominate themselves or other members for the position, which is mostly ceremonial.
Besides attending formal functions, the mayor in Santa Monica is in charge of helping set the agenda and regulate and moderate the city council meetings.
The nominations will be narrowed down to two candidates, and the council will vote on who they want as mayor.
“The process of electing the mayor, there is no... it’s quite simple actually,” said city spokeswoman Judy Rambeau. “There’s nominations and then a vote.”
After the mayor is selected, the city council will then go through the same process selecting a mayor pro tem, a position that fills in when the mayor is absent.
Another choice available to council members is to divide the job of mayor and mayor pro tem into one-year terms. For example, council members Richard Bloom and Kevin McKeown split the current two-year term of mayor pro tem.
If council members are ready, they also have the option of switching which boards and commissions they are assigned as liaisons.
Feinstein asked council members Tuesday to start thinking about which boards and commissions they would like to serve on because even though the council make-up has not changed, boards and commission assignments could.
In past years after the council chooses its new leadership, the meeting is over. However, this year council members have a full agenda full of business to conduct.
“They are trying not to have another meeting so close to Christmas and they are trying to get things done,” Stewart said. “And there is just a lot of things that need to get done.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2002. Read the original PDF.