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Though the changing of the Mayor is a newsworthy event, it shouldn't be a "remarkable" event. It happens every year in most of the cities in California.
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| The council enjoyed an unexpected laugh when Councilman Dustin Nigg said, "Aye" after the city clerk asked for Councilwoman Bridgette Moore's vote. |
In the Southwest Riverside County area, only Menifee directly elects their mayor. All the other cities rotate the position.
So this should only be newsworthy in that Wildomar has a new Mayor and Mayor Pro-tem (Joseph Morabito and Bridgette Moore respectively). Not-newsworthy that it went very smoothly... laugh moment mentioned in the photo caption above notwithstanding.
I mention this because such an ability to work with each other isn't as common as you might think. The internet is littered with videos where city councils across the nation can't get basic agenda items passed without a lot of mindless bickering.
I was going to leave a couple of YouTube links, but there are too many to choose from. Just search city council meeting gone bad, gone wrong, funny, or fights. You'll spend hours going through them.
When it comes to something as simple as choosing a mayor, just last week the city of San Mateo made news for reasons I will work to keep Wildomar from repeating, contentiousness for contentiousness' sake, seen in the headline and story below.
HIGH DRAMA ENVELOPES SAN MATEO POLITICS
San Mateo City Councilmember Amourence Lee was appointed mayor Monday night after a week of infighting and uncertainty.
Under the city’s rotational system, the most senior council member serves as mayor. As the senior-most member, Lee was supposed to assume the position on Dec. 5. But the move was blocked by two new council members, Lisa Diaz Nash and Robert Newsom.
The delay left San Mateo without a mayor for over a week and set a ‘sad’ and ‘scary’ precedent, according to their new Mayor.
In short, though they have a fairly specific rotational system in their city, they still found a way to screw it up and were without a mayor for a week. In my estimation because the new council members that hijacked the process didn't/don't understand their role in the bigger picture of things.
There can be very strong disagreements among council colleagues. That should be expected at times, but in my book, that should be reserved for controversial agenda items, not routine rubber stamp items. Imagine the mayhem in that city when they're looking for someone to lead the Pledge of Allegiance (that's well-placed sarcasm folks). 😁
Wildomar has been of a different mold
For as long as I've been watching Wildomar city council meetings (since late 2013) the various members I've observed have always gotten along and worked together. Even when it was an item that brought a lot of uncomfortable debate.
This has been true since I've been on the council starting back in December of 2018 too, and I see it continuing with the five of us that are currently serving Wildomar.
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| I'm still working on a theme for the year, but you know it'll be baseball based... keep your eye on the ball, and teamwork are possibilities. Here is your starting line-up: District 1, Carlos Marquez. District 2, Dustin Nigg. District 3, Joseph Morabito. District 4, Bridgette Moore. District 5, Ashlee DePhillippo. |
Though I campaigned for new councilman Carlos Marquez, and am glad that the voters chose him to be on the city council, there is no quid pro quo attached.
We are, all-five, separate-voices, with ideas that come from different perspectives, and the common goal of bettering Wildomar as a whole. Districts are nice, but they're simply an artificial construct foisted on Wildomar by Sacramento.
All five of us serve the entire city
Though to make the workload more evenly spread out, if you live in a particular council member's district, and you have an issue that needs attention, it's best to contact them instead of just tagging Bridgette Moore on Facebook. 😁
Let me encourage you to follow the city on Facebook, and sign up for the city emails. That way you'll know things that are happening in town in real-time, rather than long after the fact.
If you'd like to follow my social media, in addition to Wildomar Rap, search Joseph Morabito Wildomar. That'll get you to both Facebook and Instagram.
The video below is how easy it should be to select a mayor for the coming year. Had to love how Councilman Nigg got right down to business. Use this link if the video isn't visible for you.
Below is the video of the entire meeting.
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Husbands and wives, if you can't get what you'd like, you better like what you get.
– EG Marshall (CBSRMT)
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