DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — The Delano City Council voted for who would be their mayor in a special council meeting Monday evening. They voted to keep the current mayor, Bryan Osorio, as the mayor for a second year.
“You know the mayor has done an outstanding job, a phenomenal job this past year. And this upcoming year will be his last year and I think that we need to continue the progress that we are having in this city,” said Delano City Council member, Salvador Solorio-Ruiz.
The decision was not unanimous, so the mayor is chosen by the elected members of the city council for a one-year term. The first motion of the meeting Monday evening was to vote for council member Joe Alindajao as mayor.
“I really would like to see everyone on this board serve as mayor at one time. I’ll entertain a motion to vote for Mr. Alindajao,” said Delano City Council member, Liz Morris.
But that failed and Alindajao on to say that all the members should have a shot at the position.
“It had been the tradition for years and years and years by goodwill agreement that everyone have an opportunity to serve as mayor or vice mayor,” said Alindajao.
During the public comment portion some people who spoke did recognize that the mayor is just a title because all of the decisions are made by the council.
“The mayor runs the meetings, but the decisions are always made by the five of you,” said a community member.
In January, the council said they will discuss extending the term of the mayor to possibly either two or four years.
