The City of Arvin welcomed a new city council member Tuesday night, ending more than a year of operating with an incomplete council.
Tim Tarver was sworn into office during the city's regular council meeting, filling a seat that had been vacant since former councilman Juan Murillo stepped down from office.
With applause from city leaders and community members, Arvin welcomed Tarver to the dais.
"I'd like to thank everyone who took part in my reelection for this seat. I appreciate every bit of help; you got it done, and with that, let's go to work," Tarver said.
Community member Abelina Garcia said she supported Tarver because of his commitment to the community by coaching the girls' basketball team and his previous experience serving as mayor and councilman.
"I am so excited that Tim Tarver was elected because he's done a lot of good things for the city. I'm so happy because we've been rooting for him and he won," Garcia said.
Arvin Mayor Olivia Calderon said Tarver's experience will help guide the council.
"Now we are going to have a seasoned elder statesman that's joining us on this council who has experience, who is committed to working as a team and we intend to do just that to be a united front, so that we can start moving our city forward," Calderon said.
After much debate, the city approved filling the seat through a special election in August. Tarver was the overwhelming winner, as certified by the Kern County Elections Office.
"I felt like going into it, that I still had quite a bit of love here in the community and as a result you see that," Tarver said.
Now with five members, the council can proceed to vote on matters by a majority.
Tarver said he is excited to be back as part of the city leadership and is looking forward to working as a team for the betterment of Arvin.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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