Next mayor likely to be Bromberg

June Casagrande

All eyes are on Bromberg. Though the city’s process for selecting

a new mayor is invariably “anything goes,” Vice Mayor Steve Bromberg

seems a likely pick for the city’s top statesman.

“You never know what can happen. We’ll just have to wait and see.

But I would consider it an honor,” Bromberg said Friday.

The City Council will hold a special meeting Dec. 10 to swear in

new council members Don Webb and Dick Nichols and to bid farewells to

termed-out council members Norma Glover and Dennis O’Neil. In the

same meeting, council members will nominate and vote on a new mayor

and vice mayor from among the council members.

Mayors serve one-year terms. Though largely ceremonial, the

position carries some grave responsibilities, especially in terms of

representing the city to residents and to outside agencies. The mayor

chairs the City Council meeting, and the vice mayor, called “mayor

pro tempore” in city-speak, takes over these duties in the mayor’s

absence.

Council members will also decide at the Dec. 10 meeting which seats on the dais they will occupy throughout the year.

Though this year’s mayoral pick seems a no-brainer, who will be

selected vice mayor is a tougher call. Gary Proctor and John

Heffernan have sat on the council the longest but have not served in

either of these ceremonial posts. As a Greenlight councilman,

Heffernan is often an outsider on the council. For that reason, he

said it’s unlikely he will be nominated for the job.

If he is selected as vice mayor, he said he believes he could do a

good job.

The special meeting on Dec. 10 will preempt the council meeting

that would normally be held on that day. Instead, the City Council’s

only regular meeting in December will take place on the 17th.

The special meeting will take place at 4:30 p.m. in City Council

chambers, 3300 Newport Blvd., and will be open to the public.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.