Johnson apointed as Mayor Pro Tem

Sixth Ward Councilman Rikke Van Johnson was appointed as Mayor Pro Tempore by a 4-2 council vote Monday night.

Generally, a council member in any city holding the Mayor Pro Tem position assumes the mayor's duties at city council meetings whenever the mayor is absent. The posting is little more than honorific that council members give to a respected colleague.

San Bernardino is different. As Mayor Pro Tem, Johnson will have authority to decide who among his five council colleagues will sit on the various committees that focus on specific city issues like the budget, law enforcement and new laws.

That power was previously held by First Ward Councilwoman Esther Estrada, who had the authority to make committee assignments by virtue of her status as the longest-serving member of the City Council.

The council made the decision to choose who gets to make committee assignments in October. Estrada and 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack decried the move as a power grab. Their argument was that Estrada was being punished for seeking to use the council's rarely exercised subpoena power to investigate Operation Phoenix.

Third Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker pushed for the change. He said at the time that his idea was not about Operation Phoenix but making the council more democratic.

The council did not issue any subpoenas. Estrada and McCammack were the only members to support the plan. Operation Phoenix is an anti-crime program involving police, recreation and other programs that was dogged by scandal after recreation supervisor Mike Miller was arrested in July on suspicion of child molestation. He has been charged with more than twenty felony counts and has pleaded not guilty.

Estrada and McCammack repeated their line of thinking Monday, and Estrada accused Johnson of working against her in exchange for the chance to hold a leadership position.

"I was never, to put it simply, double-crossed until now," said Estrada, who lamented that a history of close cooperation between herself and representatives of the 6th Ward (both contain Westside neighborhoods) has come to end.

"May you enjoy your title, and whatever that comes with it, up to and including tearing up the special relationship that has always existed between the council members of the 1st and 6th wards," she said.

Johnson did not address Estrada's accusations Monday. After being named to the post, he said it will be his plan to rotate committee memberships "so they (council members) won't feel that by sitting on a committee for a long time that they have taken ownership of the committee."

In an interview Tuesday, Johnson denied that he voted to reduce Estrada's role within the council to elevate himself. He said having the council select its own leader is a better way to run city business.

"Just because it's tradition doesn't mean it's the best way of doing things," he said, adding his view that giving his colleagues a chance to serve on new panels will make them smarter.

"You learn more about the functions of the city in those different capacities," he said.

Johnson also acknowledged that his political relationship with Estrada "may be broken down."

"Whether we always have a relationship, maybe, maybe not," he said. "I don't have anything against her. I've learned a lot from her."