Fountain Valley : Brown Becomes City’s First Woman Mayor
Barbara Brown, a substitute teacher and councilwoman since 1980, has become the city’s first woman mayor.
Brown, 44, became mayor Tuesday night under a new automatic rotation system enacted by the City Council in November. She will be mayor for the next eight months.
The rotation system was adopted, according to City Manager Judy Kelsey, to avoid internal squabbles among council members competing with each other for the largely ceremonial post. Previously, the mayor was elected by a majority vote of the five council members.
To allow each of the current council members to be mayor before their terms expire, an eight-month term was chosen, Kelsey said. It may be extended to a full year in the future, she said.
Brown and the other council members were attending a League of Cities conference in Monterey and could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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