Cypress residents are getting a new city council member after the last appointee dropped out of the process days before the deadline to fill a vacancy on the dais that opened up two months ago.
[Read: Cypress Once Again Grapples With City Council Vacancy After Appointee Withdraws]
It comes amid a leadership vacuum as multiple top executives leave city hall, including longtime City Manager Peter Grant, who resigned after unspecified misconduct allegations made against him by another former longtime city department head.
On Black Friday, officials voted at a special meeting 3-1 to appoint Rachel Strong, who owns and runs a local dance studio, as the replacement.
Strong said being a small business owner and a mother makes her a perfect candidate for the role and laid out her priorities as a council member.
“My priorities are clear and they are grounded in responsibility to recruit and select an excellent city manager to help pay down the police pension, but still maintain a balanced budget and a surplus,” she said at the special meeting.
“To reimagine our green spaces with our teens in mind, to create places that keep them engaged, safe and connected.”
Councilwoman Bonnie Peat was the dissenting vote, arguing that they should pick someone who has served as an elected official before advocating for former Mayor Anne Mallari and Candi Kern, a former Cypress School Board president.
“I’m more interested about what brings stability to our city, and I’m very concerned that if we choose someone that hasn’t served in some role like that. That is just going to be more time for our staff to bring them up to speed over the next 12 months,” she said at the meeting.
Mayor David Burke said the council has been plagued by political infighting and officials should pick someone who will help them continue to move away from that, adding Strong has the right temperament for the job.
“She’d bring a new perspective to the group without some of the baggage, frankly, of applicants who’ve served before, and I’ve also seen her in chambers over the years, and I think she’s generally been on the right side of some important issues,” he said at the meeting.
Initially, city officials picked Quintin Bentley, a city recreation and community services commissioner, to fill a vacancy left by former City Councilman Scott Minikus in October after he announced he took an out of state job.
But days after he was chosen, city officials announced in a news release that Bentley withdrew from the appointment process.
“I was appointed because they could not agree on a more qualified candidate. I was surprised by the decision and want to stand behind my ideals that the seat should go to the most qualified person,” he said in a Nov. 21 email to the interim City Manager Sean Joyce
“I understand that puts the council in a tough position and I feel badly to put you all in that situation. However, I want to make this decision quickly so you have time to prepare,” he said.
Some residents, including Mallari, disputed Bentley’s application that listed himself as a special education teacher.
“(I) helped create a mentorship program for newly hired special education staff. In special education, there’s a saying: when I see a need, I fill a need. This principle has guided my approach to problem-solving and leadership throughout my career,” reads his application.
Bentley’s LinkedIn account does not say that he has worked as a special education teacher; instead, it says that he volunteers to coach girls flag football at Cypress High School.
Mallari, who applied to fill the vacancy, said the decision to appoint Bentley was “a failure of leadership.”
“It was a failure of judgment, a failure of leadership and a public embarrassment for our city,” she said. “They appointed someone to the city council without verifying the most basic facts on his resume.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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