One of a series.
Dateline Carson – The most colorful (former) mayor in Southern California is not tipping his hand as he ponders a comeback-type run for mayor of Carson.
Jim Dear, target of a successful recall last February when he was serving as city clerk, said yesterday that he will make up his mind by mid-July.
That would give him 3½ months to run nose-to-nose against the present – and also controversial — Hizzoner of Carson, Albert (Little Al) Robles, going into a November showdown.
These enduring rivals, once friendly, do not like each other.
Mr. Dear spent a decade of his 14 City Council years as a plain-talking mayor. In March of last year, he stepped out of the mayor’s chair and ran successfully for city clerk, a position that pays $100,000 more than the $22,000 mayor’s salary.
Elected for four years, Mr. Dear was not granted four minutes of peace. Members of his new clerk staff complained about his professional work habits and comments, and his former Council colleagues maintained an unbroken stream of harsh criticism.
Longtime enemies/rivals of Mr. Dear granted him a one-hour reprieve after his victory before successfully pursuing a predictable recall of him.
Among other lowlights, the Council investigated whether Mr. Dear sought the city clerk’s chair because the pay was six times higher.
When Mr. Dear was recalled by voters last February, 54 percent to 46, Donesia Gause, the incumbent city clerk whom Mr. Dear defeated last year, was returned to her old office.
In the job switch, Ms. Gause, who had been appointed to the Council to fill the Dear seat, replaced her modest Council salary with a restoration of her $125,000 position. Her motives were not questioned, presumably because she is a city clerk by training. Mr. Dear was not.
Healthy and eager, the mental betting odds across Carson today maintain that Mr. Dear will file for the mayor’s job in July.
A Dear-Robles race, aficionados believe, would make Trump-Hillary resemble paint drying on a country barn.
At 3 in the morning, high noon or midnight, or all three, Mr. Dear can do 20 uninterrupted, non-repetitive minutes on why Mr. Robles is unfit to lead Carson.
Appointed interim mayor after Mr. Dear’s departure last year, Mr. Robles has dealt with his own controversies.
For starters, Mr. Dear volubly declares that Mr. Robles is not a resident of Carson, offering tangible evidence.
It has been reported for months that Mr. Robles holds two positions that legally and ethically clash. He is a board member of the Central Basin Water District, sparking an investigation by the office of Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey.
Ms. Lacey’s office has not reported any progress in the Robles case this year.
(To be continued)
