On what was likely his last time as a sitting Gardena City Council member, Steve Bradford choked up on Tuesday night.
Bradford was elected to the state 51st Assembly District last week to replace Curren Price, Jr. (who was chosen for the state Senate). Bradford will represent Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Playa Vista, Westchester, Lennox and other nearby areas.
"This could well be my last meeting," Bradford said. "I want to say how honored and privileged I've been to serve the city of Gardena."
At that, he paused as tears welled in his eyes.
"This is where the rubber meets the road," he went on. "I can go to Sacramento and hide. I can go to Washington DC and hide. But you can't hide from the residents of 146th Street who say they want less traffic congestion."
He asked the council to continue the summer jazz festival that he has hosted at Rowley Park for the past seven years.
Mayor Paul Tanaka and council members praised Bradford for his victory, and said they were thrilled to have an "advocate" for Gardena in Sacramento.
Bradford, who has been a councilman for 12 years, will begin his new job as soon as Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass asks him to, which could be as soon as today. Then Gardena will rush to meet a 30-day deadline to fill his seat.
Tanaka called on anyone interested in the seat to fill out an application at City Hall. The council will vote on a replacement at its next meeting (if Bradford is called to the Assembly before that). If three of four council members agree on a candidate, that person will take the chair. If the council members cannot reach a majority agreement, a special election will be called in March to fill out Bradford's term until 2012.
The city will have a public goodbye reception for Bradford at the beginning of its Sept. 22 meeting.
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