You may address him as Hizzoner, as of Monday night’s City Council meeting.
Mayor Mehaul O’Leary.
“This is an interesting position to be in,” the outgoing 45-year-old Irish émigré said this morning as he enters his fourth year on the Council. (What? You never heard of a native-born Irishman who was a stoic?)
Even though the estimate-trust — as opposed to the braintrust — at Metro headquarters, downtown, has been years off and millions of dollars short when making predictions longer than 5 minutes into the future, they are guessing that the first Expo light rail will roll into the Culver City terminal within the next 365 days.
That means that when the history books are written, the most magnetic photo will feature Mayor Mehaul O’Leary, beaming from here to Dublin, standing on the platform, jubilantly greeting and surrounded by the most important politicians within hundreds of miles of Los Angeles.
As Mayor, Mr. O’Leary will be forever identified as the man in charge of City Hall throughout Culver City’s most historically significant moment in decades.
Order of Succession
Speaking of rigged elections, owing to a policy shaped last year by former City Manager Mark Scott, now of Fresno, it is expected that Jeff Cooper will be promoted to Vice Mayor. This will position Mr. Cooper to ascend to the No. 1 chair after next April’s election when three of the five Council seats will be decided.
One of the three incumbent candidates will be Mr. O’Leary, and the added prestige of the Mayor’s title should be a welcome boost for his campaign.
Tremendously busy lately as the Chair of the Redevelopment Agency that Gov. Brown is hoping to shut down, Mr. O’Leary has been thinking a lot about his new position.
“When I am asked questions as Mayor, I will need to remember I am speaking for the city,” Mr. O’Leary said, “as opposed to giving my own opinion.
“I really must be cognizant of the fact I am speaking for the city.
“Should I be asked a question after we have voted on a topic and I have voted the other way, I will be speaking in favor of the item we voted for, not giving my opinion.
“I am just suggesting now that it will be more difficult to give my own personal opinion. I want everyone to understand that.
“I always have felt that way. Once we have voted and moved along, that is the item we are moving forward with, that is the voice of the Council, not something else that I may have wanted.”
Question: Can it be presumed he reluctantly will surrender the Redevelopment Agency chairmanship because the agency has been the hottest topic in California since Gov. Brown took office almost four months ago?
“It has been a great training ground for the future mayor. For example, running the meetings, guiding the discussions, being fair and moving along the discussions.
“All of that can seem easy. But there is an art to it. I enjoyed it, and I feel more prepared for that part of my role,” Mr. O’Leary said.
