Special City Council Meeting: Appointment of Mayor and Councilmember - October 15, 2025
Special City Council Meeting: Appointment of Mayor and Councilmember - October 15, 2025
On October 15, 2025, the Avondale City Council held a special meeting to address the vacancy of the mayor's seat following the resignation of Mayor Ken Weiss effective October 13, 2024 (note: the raw transcript indicates the meeting was called for October 14, 2024, but the prompt specifies October 15, 2025). The meeting was called to order at 18:26 UTC. City Clerk Marcella presented the process for filling the vacancy, outlining options including appointment of a current council member, a structured recruitment process, or a new process. After public comment and council discussion, the council voted unanimously to appoint Vice Mayor Mike Pineda as mayor and then unanimously appointed Jeanette Garcia to the resulting council vacancy. Both were sworn in.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Levi Willow, a resident since December 2020, expressed concern about the rapid construction of apartments, noting that farm fields have been replaced by unlimited apartments, which worries him about school system overload and grocery store shortages. He praised City Manager Mr. Corbin and Ms. Gregory but questioned former City Manager Charles Montoya's role in the apartment development.
Discussion Items
- Councilmember White delivered an extended statement expressing discomfort with perceived external influence from organizations such as Turning Point and Chase the Vote, and referenced a social media post by councilmember-elect Jeanette Garcia urging the appointment of Mike Pineda and Sherry Weiss. She called for a pause and exploration of options rather than a vote that night, but did not make a formal motion.
- Councilmember Nielsen made a motion to appoint Vice Mayor Mike Pineda as mayor, arguing it would avoid a lengthy recruitment process for a short term (two to three months). The motion was seconded by Councilmember Solorio.
- Several council members spoke in favor of the motion, citing momentum and the fact that Pineda had already been elected to the mayor's seat in the July 30, 2024 election and would be sworn in again in January.
- Councilmember Malone seconded Nielsen's motion, and after a roll call, the motion passed 7-0.
- Following Pineda's swearing-in, the council moved to fill the now-vacant council seat. Councilmember Malone made a motion to appoint Jeanette Garcia (the councilmember-elect) to the seat, seconded by Councilmember Nielsen.
- Council members expressed support, noting the need to maintain momentum and the benefit of having Garcia get early experience before her term begins in January. Councilmember White initially expressed concerns but eventually supported the motion. The motion passed 7-0, and Garcia was sworn in.
Key Outcomes
- Appointment of Mayor: Councilmember Nielsen motioned, Solorio seconded, to appoint Mike Pineda as mayor for the interim period until the new term begins in January 2025. The vote was 7-0 in favor. Pineda was sworn in immediately.
- Appointment of Councilmember: Councilmember Malone motioned, Nielsen seconded, to appoint Jeanette Garcia to fill the council vacancy created by Pineda's elevation. The vote was 7-0 in favor. Garcia was sworn in immediately.
- Housekeeping: The vice mayor position will be filled at the next regular meeting. Staff will contact Garcia regarding benefits, security, and scheduling of official photographs. The new council will be reorganized in January 2025.
- Discrepancy noted: The raw transcript lists the meeting date as October 14, 2024, but the directive for this summary specifies October 15, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call to order the special city council meeting of October 14th 2024. Would you all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence? Thank you. Marcell, if we can have roll call. Or yeah, we can have roll call. Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. Councilmember Conde? Here. Councilmember Malone. Here. Councilmember Nielsen. Here. Councilmember Solorio? Here. Councilmember White? Here. Vice Mayor Paneda. Here. Thank you. Ron, item number two, please. Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor and Council. Up first, we have a presentation by Marcella, our city clerk on the process of filling the mayor vacancy. Good evening, Vice Mayor and Councilmembers. Today I will be giving a brief presentation on the mayor vacancy process. As you know, Mayor Ken Weiss resigned as mayor effective October 13th to take on a new role with NASCAR. While the mayor did submit his resignation notice, he was previously set to leave office at the end of this year as his term expires on December 31st, 2024. Pursuant to our city charter, the council must first fill the vacancy within 31 days for both councilmember and mayor seats. Therefore, the position of mayor must be filled by November 14th. And on the screen before you is the section within the charter that states the vacancies must be filled for both councilmember and mayor within that 31-day period. To make this vacancy process unique, Avondale did recently hold a candidate election on July 30th, and the individuals on the screen were voted into office and are scheduled to be sworn in in just a couple months in January. Mike Paneda was voted in as mayor, and Jeanette Garcia, current councilmember Gloria Solario, and Sherry Weiss were voted in as council members. One that was held in 2014, another in 2017, and the third in 2021. For the first one, on May 27, 2014, Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers resigned to run as she was running in a county election seat. On June 2nd, 2014, City Council voted and appointed Ken Weiss as mayor. That appointment was actually a motion that was brought from Vice Mayor Frank Scott at the time, which passed. On June 9th, 2014, City Council interviewed applicants applicants in an open meeting. However, due to a failed motion, staff were were directed to rec recruit additional people, which were brought back at the end of June, and City Council interviewed nine applicants in an open meeting and appointed Councilmember Iwanski. In 2017, on August 19th, 2017, Councilmember Sandy Nielsen passed away, and pursuant to our charter, her seat was required to be filled within 31 days. On August 28th, City Council met and gave direction to staff on a recruitment process to follow. That recruitment process included publishing an ad in a newspaper, followed by a notice of interest period for a little over one week. The very next day, the city clerk's office opened that notice of interest period, and on September 11th, City Council interviewed all applicants, which was a total of eight in an open city council meeting and appointed councilmember Condi to the seat. And the last most recently in 2021, Councilmember Dennis provided her resignation notice on November 29th, 2021. She did provide a one-month notice, which allowed us two months in total to fill her vacant seat. On December 15th, the City Clerk's office initiated the recruitment process, which included a notice of interest period to be opened for two weeks. Interested residents were asked to submit the notice of interest and the resumes to my office. On December 31st, we sent all applicants to City Council and asked City Council to anonymously rank the applicants due to the amount that we received. There was a total of 13 interested applicants. On January 3, 2022, Councilmember Dennis's last day occurred.
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