Culver City : Gourley Named Mayor

Chair and nameplate switching marked Tuesday’s City Council meeting, as Councilman Steven Gourley replaced Jozelle Smith as mayor, and outgoing Councilman Richard Alexander stepped down to make way for newly elected Mike Balkman.

Smith, who has served as mayor for the past year, and Balkman, president of an electrical contracting company, won seats on the council in last week’s municipal election.

Gourley, a lawyer, was chosen by the rest of the council to serve as mayor, which is a one-year rotating post. He has been a councilman since 1988.

Alexander was honored with letters and proclamations from the council, city department heads, U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The 16-year councilman, in turn, praised the city management as “absolutely top-drawer.”

He said, however, that a major problem is the physical load on a city councilman who holds another full-time job. He suggested that the city should look into reducing the council’s workload or increasing the number of council members.

Alexander, who was also vice mayor for the past year, decided not to run for another term for personal reasons. Paul Jacobs was selected as the new vice mayor.