LAGUNA NIGUEL : Bates Gets 2nd Term, Wilson Pro Tem Post
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Almost a year after Laguna Niguel’s incorporation, the City Council shifted leadership roles just slightly Tuesday night, reelecting Mayor Patricia C. Bates to a second one-year term and selecting a new mayor pro tem.
Bates was elected the city’s first mayor by her colleagues last December, when she outdistanced 23 competitors as Laguna Niguel became Orange County’s 29th city.
The council also voted Tuesday to install Councilman Thomas W. Wilson as mayor pro tem, replacing James F. Krembas.
Krembas has been the focus of public criticism for his role in signing a deed which relinquished the public’s right to 96 acres of open space. A criminal investigation is ongoing regarding that transaction, but Krembas is not considered a target of the investigation.
All Laguna Niguel council members are targeted for recall as a result of the positions they have taken on a controversial ordinance to protect the city’s ridgelines. One recall proponent has lodged a separate complaint against Bates with the state Fair Political Practices Commission for allegedly violating a conflict of interest law when she continued to chair a meeting while abstaining from the vote.
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