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Arcadia council delays interim District 3 appointment after split over timing and transparency
Summary
After interviewing six applicants for the District 3 vacancy, Arcadia City Council debated whether to appoint tonight or defer. Deep public concern about vetting and transparency, plus two members seeking more time, prompted the council to continue the appointment to June 16.
Arcadia’s City Council delayed naming an interim representative for District 3 on June 2 after a contentious evening of candidate interviews and public comment.
The special meeting opened at 5 p.m. with the mayor and city staff announcing that five applicants had withdrawn, leaving six candidates to be interviewed under a strict 12-minute format. Candidates including Walter Brissagi, John Han, Cynthia Ngmanji, Beth Simpkinski, Paul Van Fleet and Lisa Walton each gave brief statements and answered two rounds of council questions focusing on public safety, traffic and preserving neighborhood character.
Many residents attended and several spoke during the public-comment period. Some urged that District 3 voters, not the council, choose the next member; others pressed for minimum residency requirements and more rigorous vetting. April Verlotto told the council it was "subverting the will of the voters" by appointing an interim member rather than waiting for the November election. Multiple speakers asked for greater transparency and independent review in light of recent high-profile controversies involving a former mayor.
Council members were divided about whether to move immediately to a vote. Several argued the city needs full membership to handle upcoming business — including adopting the annual budget — while others said the public and some councilmembers needed more time to vet applicants. The mayor proposed collecting ranked points from each council member (3 points for a first choice, 2 for second, 1 for third) and submitting them simultaneously; the mechanics of that system were explained earlier in the meeting.
In the end, with at least two council members saying they wanted additional time to deliberate and one councilmember explicitly asking that the process be televised and not handled in private, the mayor tabled the appointment to the council’s June 16 meeting at 6 p.m. The mayor said all candidates would be asked to remain available and that, if appointed, the swearing-in could be arranged promptly.
The meeting resumed at 7 p.m. for the regularly scheduled business. The city attorney later briefed the council on closed-session action taken that night.
Next step: The council will reconvene on June 16 to finalize whether to appoint an interim District 3 councilmember or allow the matter to remain to the ballot in November.
