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Councilmember Cameron Smyth

Smyth Named Mayor; Council To Appoint Acosta’s Replacement

Cameron Smyth was appointed mayor of Santa Clarita by his fellow council members Tuesday.


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At the council’s annual organizational meeting for the next year, Councilwoman Laurene Weste was named mayor pro tem.

The city also decided how to fill the seat vacated by the election of Dante Acosta to the state Assembly, by voting to hold an appointment process to fill the vacancy.

The city is now accepting applications for Santa Clarita’s next City Council member from Dec. 15 until Friday, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. The city will hold a special meeting on Jan. 17 when they will decided the next council member, who would be sworn in at the next meeting.

Smyth was elected last month in the city’s first-ever November election, in which he garnered the second-highest vote total.

Previous Mayor Bob Kellar was the second highest vote-getter in the race for two seats.

“I shudder to think we would try to go more than six months (without naming a replacement),” Kellar said, referring to the fact that a special election would have taken place in June, according to state law.

Santa Clarita’s City Council still has to fill an opening with vacancy created by the recent election of Assemblyman Dante Acosta, R-Santa Clarita, who was recently sworn in at the Capitol.

The City Council chose to appoint a replacement for Acosta’s seat, with a large part of the reasoning the cost of the special election expected to exceed more than $350,000.

The person would only serve the balance of the term Acosta was scheduled for, which would end in December 2018.

Councilwoman Marsha McLean criticized the logic in spending several hundred thousand dollars to name an appointment for 18 months, but rather suggested the council treat the spot as a commission appointment — meaning the city would take applicants and then each council member would make their suggestions and see if a consensus could be reached.

 

Several who spoke at the council meeting called on the city to spend the money for a special election, and dozens more provided comment cards to that effect.

The established consolidated election date would have to be the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June.

Somewhat ironically, Smyth was involved in the last time the city had to make an appointment to replace a council member.

In that process, the City Council created a committee to approve the appointment, and after several hours, wound up appointing former Councilman TimBen Boydston, who was the third-highest vote-getter in November for the two-seat race.

At that time, in 2008, he garnered the appointment by promising he wouldn’t run in the next election. He later ran successfully in 2012.

Smyth was on City Council from 2000-08, during which time he was appointed mayor twice, before he was elected to the state Assembly from 2006-12 before he was termed out of office.

The appointment had to be made by mid-February, a time period set by state law based on when Acosta formally vacated his position.

 

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Smyth Named Mayor; Council To Appoint Acosta’s Replacement

2 comments

  1. Wow! Is this a “kissie poo” seal or what!
    How sad that there are not enough citizens voicing their opinions on how to replace Accosta. I am glad he is gone but I think it is down right crazy that Tim Ben is not the replacement.
    I should have known better than to think that the remaining council would get their heads out of the sand and work with someone with a different (and open) point of view. The three old goats just want everthing their way!

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.