In an unexpected break in its council rotation that had Gina Papan and Anders Fung next in line to be mayor and vice mayor, the Millbrae City Council instead voted 3-2 to name Ann Schneider mayor and Maurice Goodman vice mayor.
Angelina Cahalan and Goodman were sworn into office during Tuesday’s City Council meeting but minutes later, things got heated when Fung made a motion to vote in Papan and himself as the city’s mayor and vice mayor. It was an attempt to follow the city’s protocol, but they were blindsided when the motion failed and subsequent motions ended with the different result. Both Papan and Fung pleaded with the rest of the council to reconsider the motion that went against the city’s rotation, claiming it would be disruptive to go against protocol.
“I don’t think the people that voted in this last district election ever contemplated that the new members would disregard the established protocols,” Papan said.
On Dec. 6, the council outlined the rotation policy that Papan would go from vice mayor to mayor and Fung would become vice mayor. It was planned for Maurice Goodman to become vice mayor in 2024, based on the number of votes he received this year. Which means Cahalan would become the vice mayor the following year, City Attorney Joan Cassman said.
The mayor position rotates every year. That means councilmembers all get a chance to serve as mayor during their four-year term. However, Cassman said following city protocol was not a staff recommendation and if the majority of the council wants to appoint a councilmember who it feels would best do the job, it has the right to do so. Consequently, Fung’s motion failed 3-2 with Schneider, Calahan and Goodman all voting against it.
“If they felt the policy was crafted in error then they allowed this to happen because they had every opportunity to modify it before,” Goodman said, who added Schneider has the skill set to address the challenges ahead like equity, mental health and homelessness.
The actions of the night came as a surprise, however, there were previous conversations before he was sworn in which he was lobbied for his vote, he said.
“Before getting sworn in, it was brought up at the candidate forum and brought up in meetings with Anders and Ann before,” Goodman said. “It was about the protocol and lobbying for my vote, they themselves believed the protocol was both guidelines, but we were all lobbied.”
Fung argued that going against protocol would be disruptive to the council. However, Schneider argues protocol is at the whim of the council and have been broken for years, prior to Tuesday night. Claiming protocol now but disregarding them in the past is dishonest, she said.
In 2017, Schneider was set to become vice mayor, however, former Mayor Anne Oliva, at the time, claimed her colleague was unfit to get in line for becoming mayor because she did not work well with other councilmembers, burdened city staff with unnecessary tasks and was devoid of requisite leadership skills.
The issue returned again the following year, and former Mayor Wayne Lee moved over to the mayor’s seat, again leaving Schneider positioned to become vice mayor. But following a series of tense exchanges, former Councilmember Reuben Holober reluctantly accepted the post. Schneider would eventually fall into rotation in 2020 when she gained support from the rest of the city officials who called to form a unified front in hopes of collectively overcoming the hurdles ahead.
“I have been subjected to that and it is not fun for anyone,” Schneider said. “I have hated this meeting for the past five years because of your lead and the council … passed over me twice. So, I had to run for a second election to get to serve as mayor, also not according to protocol,” Schneider said.
Papan explained when Schneider became mayor in 2020, protocol was broken and consequently the rotation was adjusted. Schneider has already been mayor in this four-year cycle of her public service and it was her own turn to serve as mayor, Papan said.
The district elections made matters more complicated during the meeting because, this year, two seats were phased into the council, by both Goodman and Cahalan. And the next phasing will be in 2024 when the remaining three seats will be filled, from the remaining districts. Fung argues the city’s protocol needs to be modified but should be phased in just like the district elections, so it is fair. The councilmembers who are finishing their citywide elected terms should have the opportunity to become mayor as the voters intended when they were elected to the council, he said.
“The purpose of the city’s mayor rotation is to have a clear line of succession and a peaceful transfer of responsibility and power,” Fung said.
Following Fung’s failed motion, Goodman made his own motion to nominate Schneider as the mayor. The motion passed 3-2. Papan and Fung voted against it and Goodman, Schneider and Cahalan voted for it. Shortly after Schneider was sworn into the mayor’s seat, Cahalan made a motion to nominate Goodman to the vice mayor seat which passed 3-2. Papan and Fung voted against it, while Cahalan, Schneider and Goodman voted for it.
