Tim Willert
SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- Former Glendale mayor Rick Reyes has surfaced as
a possible replacement for Marilyn McCumber on the Glendale Humane
Society Board of Directors.
McCumber, the longest-sitting member left on the nine-member board,
resigned Wednesday after 15 years.
"Rick's a great human being and he has very good people skills,"
Councilman Bob Yousefian said Monday. "I think for that organization ...
it would be a good step for them."
If appointed, Reyes would be the second former mayor on the revamped
board, joining Ginger Bremberg.
"If Rick wants to serve, he's certainly welcome to apply," Bremberg
said Monday. "He's a highly qualified guy. He sure knows and understands
and loves animals."
Reyes, a councilman from 1993 to 1997, served as mayor from 1995 to
1996. He was out of town on Monday and could not be reached for comment.
Reyes apparently expressed interest in the board position in October,
Yousefian said.
"I approached Rick and asked him if he would like to be on the board,"
Yousefian said. "He said yes, but not at this time."
The shelter could appoint McCumber's replacement at next week's board
meeting or wait until the June election, Bremberg said Monday.
"There's not a rush to appoint somebody," she said. "But it would be
better if we had a full board."
Six of the board's nine members have either resigned or decided not to
seek reelection in January since a damaging city audit of the shelter was
released in September.
Two of the board's three remaining members -- President Jon Georges
and Mike Barclay -- are expected to step down in June.
Betty Evans, a former city treasurer who was appointed to fill Chris
Hempel's board seat in November, hasn't decided whether she will return.
Will Vargas is the only member of the board in place before the audit
who is not expected to step down. Greg Elmore, Steve Levin and Sharon
McRee were elected to the board last month.
Four other people who ran for the board in January -- Sloane Atkinson,
Margaret Hammond, Paulette Ramsay Wood and Linda Weaver -- also will be
considered to fill the vacancy left by McCumber, Bremberg said.
Yousefian, meanwhile, called McCumber's resignation a step in the
right direction.
"Nobody wants to be somewhere where they're not wanted," Yousefian
said. "She may have gotten that message or she may have found something
better to do."
McCumber, a Glendale attorney, could not be reached for comment
Monday. Last month, she indicated she would serve the remainder of her
term, which expires in June.
