Councilman Ousted From Vice Mayorship Post

A simmering feud between Councilman William Crowfoot and his council colleagues boiled over Monday night when the panel ousted the councilman from the vice mayorship and named Councilwoman Joyce Streator to the post.

Streator is now expected to become mayor next year according to council tradition, which dictates that the vice mayor rotate into the mayor’s job every two years. Both posts are ceremonial.

The council voted 4 to 3 to remove Crowfoot as vice mayor. Opponents said he was not ready to become mayor, citing an expletive he uttered to a council member in a recent public session.

“I think he needs a little more maturity before he serves as mayor,” said Councilman William Paparian.

Crowfoot said the issue of his behavior was an excuse for his ouster from the post. He said his colleagues were seeking retribution for his support of ousted city manager Philip Hawkey.

He said his snubbing was also an effort to silence the people of his district--the poorest and least enfranchised area of Pasadena.

Crowfoot’s late arrival may have contributed to his loss. He missed a first vote on electing a vice mayor. Three colleagues voted for him but without his own vote he failed to muster the four votes needed.

Soon after his arrival, another vote was taken to reconsider him for vice mayor. But Councilman Sidney F. Tyler Jr., who had supported the absent Crowfoot, refused to support him again, and instead joined Paparian, Streator and Mayor Chris Holden in selecting Streator.