La Habra Ca Government Officials

Juan M. Garcia will begin his third year on the City Council as the city's first Latino mayor. His colleagues on the council voted unanimously last week to give Garcia, 42, the mostly ceremonial post, in which he will conduct meetings, award proclamations and represent the city at special events. Steven C. Anderson will serve as mayor pro tem. Garcia now leads a city in which 34% of the population is Latino, according to 1990 U.S. Census figures.

Rose Espinoza exorcised the ghosts of elections past when she raised her right hand to be sworn in as a La Habra City Council member. "I wanted everything to go in slow motion. I wanted to enjoy the moment as long as I could," said Espinoza, 49, finally elected in November after three unsuccessful City Council races. She was sworn in Dec. 4.

Mayor Juan Garcia said this week he will resign his seat on the City Council almost a year before it expires. Garcia, 46, said he has accepted a job transfer to the Bay Area, forcing him to give up his council post before his term is up in November 2000. Garcia said he plans to remain on the council until Dec. 5, when he completes his stint as mayor.

Planning Commissioner Todd Warlick attended his final meeting as a city official Monday, receiving a commendation from his peers for service to the city. Warlick is in the process of moving to Boston for professional reasons and recently sold his La Habra home. His unfinished term runs until July 2003, and the City Council is taking applications to appoint an interim commissioner to the unoccupied seat. Information: (562) 905-9701.

Councilman David M. Cheverton will be replaced by a successor of his colleagues' choice. The council decided to make an appointment rather than hold a special election in an effort to save money, officials said. Holding a special election would have cost an estimated $20,000. Making an appointment will cost nothing. Cheverton recently announced his resignation, saying increased job responsibilities at an Irvine marketing firm left him without sufficient time for his elected duties.

Dorothy Rush, known for her fight against gang violence, will be the city's mayor for 1998--the fourth woman to hold the post in La Habra's 75-year history. Rush, 63, who was elected to the City Council in 1994, said she will continue to try to improve the city's image. "I don't like it when people say that this is a bad place," she said. "It's not. It's a friendly place to come to." In the last couple of years, crime has dropped, especially in Rush's Grace-Pacific neighborhood.

La Habra Mayor William D. Mahoney has been elected chairman of the Joint Sanitation Districts board of directors. "I am committed to . . . meet the growing needs of our service area with cost-effective, environmentally safe waste-water management services," Mahoney said upon accepting the one-year post. His third term as chairman began earlier this month. Tustin Councilman Charles E. Puckett was selected as vice chairman. The sanitation districts provide waste-water management services for 2.

Randall T. Hebert has been appointed to the Community Services Commission, filling the unexpired term of Brian Cannon, who resigned in June. Cannon moved from La Habra to South County two months ago, making him ineligible to serve on the commission. Hebert, 44, will be sworn in at tonight's commission meeting. His term expires March 31, 1995. "I'm thrilled," the 13-year La Habra resident said about his new job.

Councilwoman Beth Graham Strader, who served as the city's first woman mayor, has submitted her resignation because she is moving out of the city after 42 years. There are 19 months of her term remaining. Strader, a retired nurse, will move to Northern California with her second husband, Robert Strader, whom she married in January. The first of two women elected to the council in 1972, Strader first served as mayor in 1975-76. She was also mayor in 1979-80 and in 1989-90.

Five north Orange County city councils chose new mayors this week. In La Habra, Beth Graham was appointed mayor on a 4-0 vote with one abstention, replacing William Mahoney. Councilman Douglas J. Bystry abstained and voiced objections to the process. "I strongly favor an equal, fair and rotational basis for the selection of mayor in our city," he said. Bystry has served for three years on the council and said he felt it was his turn to become mayor a year ago.

The City Council has appointed Glen E. Owens to fill former Planning Commissioner William E. Reeves' term. With a 3-2 vote, Owens, 41, was chosen to serve on the commission over seven other candidates. He is an 18-year resident who works as an examiner of fraudulent documents for the California attorney general's office. Reeves, who was appointed to the Planning Commission last April, resigned from his four-year job in November because he moved out of La Habra.