The city of Los Alamitos held a special meeting Monday evening to undo the appointment of Jordan Nefulda to the Council after learning officials now have a new interpretation of the law regarding such appointments.
Nefulda, an attorney, was the only candidate to qualify to run for a seat on the city council in District 3, so with the blessing of the city’s legal counsel, the Council moved in a special meeting Aug. 17 to appoint Nefulda to the Council according to the conditions of Resolution 2029.
“Since then, we have obtained a different interpretation of the law,” said Mayor Richard D. Murphy, so he said the city council held a special meeting this past Monday, Aug. 24 to rescind the action appointing Nefulda.
“It was a three-minute meeting,” said Murphy, as the council voted to rescind the appointment.
While it was unclear why the council got the green light to make the Aug. 17 appointment, Murphy said in an interview that he believed there were some complications in the legal interpretation of election laws due to the city having its own measure on the ballot.
The new interpretation, therefore, negated the appointment process they’ve used before.
According to the special meeting agenda, the city “in working with the Orange County Registrar of Voters office, is was determined that since the City has a qualified measure on the ballot for November 3, 2020, the District 3 seat cannot be filled by appointment and must be placed on the ballot.”
There are two additional seats under contention on the council, including Districts 1 and 2. There are two candidates running in each of those districts so presumably, there will be no runoffs.
Therefore, Murphy said Nefulda is now expected to take office on Dec. 14 along with the winners from the two other districts.
Ironically, that will also be Murphy’s last meeting on the city council, having chosen not to be a candidate for re-election.
Nefulda, an attorney, who currently serves on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, took it all in stride. “I’m still going to stay involved as much as I can and bring myself up to speed,” said Nefulda.
Nefulda said their family moved into Los Alamitos several years ago to take advantage of the Los Alamitos Unified School District. He said their daughter currently attends Lee Elementary.
His bottom-line reason for wanting to serve on the council, said Nefulda, was nevertheless to “make the city of Los Alamitos a better place to live and raise a family.”
While he understands the city has financial issues, Nefulda said “so do many cities do at the moment.”
Nefulda said he will not prejudge any issue and that he plans to keep an open mind to become more familiar with the key issues that will ultimately drive the city to a better place.
Having served the city on the Parks and Rec Commission, said Nefulda, was a significant advantage.
As most residents understand, the city has voted to place a 1.5 percent sales tax proposition on the November 3 ballot. If approved, the measure will provide city officials with an estimated $4 million per year and a return to fiscal sustainability.
An article in last week’s ENE incorrectly stated that Council member Dean Grose had signed the argument in favor of the proposed 1.5 percent sales. What Grose actually signed was the “rebuttal argument,” after offering edits to the document.
According to city clerk Windy Quitanar, the official Nov. 3 election Voter’s Guide will include an argument for, and, and now, an argument against the city’s proposed sales tax. The “direct argument,” in favor of the tax was signed by four council members. Grose was the only council member not to sign the “direct argument” from the council to voters justifying the tax.
However, as per the rules, the Council received an argument opposing the sales tax proposition from Phil Silverthorn, a 25-year Los Al resident. The public has a right to submit arguments against any such measure, according to the city.
Silverthorn argues in his opposition that now is not the time for the city to pass a sales tax.
Therefore, under state law, since the Los Alamitos Council received an opposition argument, the city has the right to “rebut” the opposition argument.
Therefore, the Voter’s Guide will include not only the ‘direct argument,’ which is the city’s main argument in favor of the sales tax, but it will also include Silverthorn’s opposition and the city’s “rebuttal” to it.
In the special meeting we reported on, while Grose refused to earlier sign the “direct argument,” he did agree to sign the “rebuttal” argument drafted by Council members Shelley Hasselbrink and Mayor Pro-tem Mark Chirco.
To clarify and correct the record, while Grose did not sign the city’s original argument explaining the tax to voters, he did agree to sign the city’s rebuttal argument to the tax measures only written opposition.