Lemon Grove still can’t agree who should fill council vacancy

A vacancy on the Lemon Grove City Council will remain after a contentious meeting Tuesday ended without consensus – but leaders agreed to open up the process for additional candidates.

“The community wants healing,” Councilmember Yadira Altamirano said. “The atmosphere has changed up on the dias in the community.”

In a heated discussion, the four city leaders rehashed their arguments from the last council meeting — coming to a gridlock as to who should fill the seat, which opened when Sitivi “Steve” Faiai unexpectedly passed away over the summer.

Newer members of the council want Lauren Faiai, widow of Sitivi Faiai. On the other hand, the more longstanding council members advocated for Jay Andrew Bass, a well-known figure who holds seats on the Lemon Grove School District board and the city’s planning commission.

The division rang true again during the meeting on Tuesday, where the council’s deliberations quickly devolved into arguments about each side’s unwillingness to budge.

City leaders were presented with eight options which included, but were not limited to: reconsideration of the current candidates, opening the process up to new candidates, creating a subcommittee for vetting candidates, or holding a special election.

Mayor Alysson Snow and Mayor Pro-Tem Jennifer Mendoza balked at introducing new candidates.

“We were presented with eight very good candidates,” Mendoza said. “There is no one there that wouldn’t make a good city council member.”

Mendoza continued to advocate against the appointment of Lauren Faiai, saying it would be a “legacy appointment.” Both Mendoza and Snow said they had previously shown a willingness to consider more than one candidate, whereas they argued the remaining council members refused to budge on their pick.

“I chose the person that I thought was what we needed,” Councilmember Jessyka Heredia responded. “I just really want to reiterate that you didn’t compromise either.”

The vacancy has underscored tensions on the council, as well as calls from community members for a return to normalcy. A new member who can help bridge the ongoing division is necessary, Altamirano said.

Unable to reach a consensus, city leaders opted to move forward with a new slate of candidates, with the concession that previous candidates be considered — without reapplying.

In order to avoid another gridlock, Snow said it should be required that the vote is held on a ranked-choice model. This means that each council member will pick their top three candidates and if no candidate wins the majority of first-choice votes, the option with the least is eliminated and votes are redistributed until a majority is reached.

The council agreed that once a new set of candidates is selected, a town hall will be held to weigh the community’s opinion on each option.