The Beverly Hills City Council is holding ongoing discussions surrounding issues on the roles of mayor and vice mayor. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

The Beverly Hills City Council on Feb. 19 resumed its discussion of the rules surrounding who can serve as mayor and vice mayor in the city. The discussion – a follow-up to a meeting on Feb. 5 – lasted for approximately an hour and a half and stemmed from an issue with the city’s rotating mayoral system and the schedule for council member elections.

In Beverly Hills, the five City Council members are each elected to serve four-year terms by residents. The mayor and vice mayor are chosen by the council.

Before Senate Bill 415 was passed in 2015, Beverly Hills held all of its elections in March. Due to Senate Bill 415, which requires municipalities to hold elections on established statewide election dates, the city moved its City Council election to June during non-presidential election years.

In non-presidential election years, the City Council has two installations. The mayor and vice mayor are each chosen every April by the existing City Council. The mayor and vice mayor are decided based on the year they were elected to City Council and how many votes they received. During non-presidential election years, the city still holds its installation for the mayor and vice mayor in April, but it holds the installation for new council members in July.

In 2022, Beverly Hills voters passed measure TL by 81.51%, which limits City Council members to three terms. Due to the election schedule and Measure TL, it raises the possibility for a council member to be elected as mayor in April and term out or not be reelected by voters in June.

For instance, although measure TL was passed in 2022, during the same election cycle, Councilman John Mirisch was elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office. In July 2026, Mirisch will term out of office, having completed his fourth four-year term. However, based on the current rotating schedule of mayor and vice mayor, Mirisch is scheduled to be installed as vice mayor in April 2025 and mayor in April 2026.

The City Council spent the study session meeting on Feb. 5 grappling with how to address the upcoming situation, and determined that Mirisch will split the upcoming vice mayorship with Councilman Craig Corman ¬– each serving a six-month term. Mirisch will be sworn in as vice mayor in April while Corman will be sworn in as vice mayor in October.

Although the next vice mayorship will be split into two terms, the City Council agreed to prohibit the same situation from recurring by not choosing a mayor who cannot serve a full one-year term, and not choosing a vice mayor who cannot serve as mayor. The council agreed to make Mirisch an exception, given that he was elected to a fourth term before they knew it would cause such issues.

In the Feb. 19 study session, the council examined issues involving rotating mayorship. For example, in April 2030, under the regular rotation, the third-highest vote-getter in the 2026 City Council election would become mayor. However, that person would also be up for reelection in June 2030.

“It is theoretically possible that they could become mayor in April, and then perhaps be not reelected,” City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey said during the study session.

As a result, that individual would only serve as mayor for three months.

The ensuing discussion brought up questions of fairness. For instance, in presidential election years, only two City Council members are elected. However, in non-presidential election years, three are elected. Barring the third-place vote-getter in non-presidential election years from holding the office of mayor could unfairly affect that individual, as both City Council members elected in presidential election years would be guaranteed office, current Vice Mayor Sharona Nazarian suggested.

“I don’t think it’s about the five of us sitting up here, it’s about the process,” Nazarian said. “I think about being fair. The way that we’ve positioned this is if somebody – even a vice mayor – who is going to be facing reelection is completely moved down … The problem is you have three council members who run for office, and then they can’t serve as mayor or vice mayor while the people in the two-person election keep getting back on.”

Corman pointed out that none of the possible solutions was ideal, given the complex problems that result from each one.

“There is no good option here,” Corman said. “Someone gets a haircut no matter how you look at it … The question is, what is the least objectionable option for the council.”

The council ultimately favored a solution presented by Hunt-Coffey that prevents the third highest vote-getter in a non-presidential election from serving as vice mayor. However, Councilwoman Mary Wells suggested that the third-highest vote-getter be allowed to serve as vice mayor for one term before not serving as mayor.

In this scenario, the person who places first in a presidential election year would not be able to serve as vice mayor before serving as mayor, as the third-highest vote getter from the previous non-presidential election would instead be vice mayor. This raises the possibility of a mayor being sworn in who has never served as vice mayor.

To resolve the issue, Corman then suggested that if the council member who finishes first in the presidential election year had not yet served as vice mayor, then the two people would split the vice mayoral term. If that council member had already served as vice mayor, then the third-place vote-getter in the non-presidential election year would get to serve the full term as vice mayor.

Four of the council members agreed to the complex guidelines. Mirisch abstained, stating that he had “reservations” about denying the third-place vote-getter from serving as mayor.