The vote was sufficiently unexpected that Najarian grumbled that he didn't have a chance to have his wife and family present. This was remedied the next day, as they attended his first regular meeting in the chair.
Najarian had nominated Councilman Bob Yousefian, who would have been in line for the top spot under the council's unofficial rotation system. Council members Frank Quintero and Dave Weaver voted for Najarian, and Drayman abstained. The deadlock endured until the final vote.
Quintero started the evening by nominating Drayman, who said he didn't feel ready to take the top spot. "I hope to be mayor some day," he said.
The reorganization meeting Monday started with the two returning community college board members, Tony Tartaglia and Vahe Peroomian, taking the oath from the city clerk. New school board member Nayiri Nahabedian had been sworn in earlier at the GUSD board meeting, and taking the opportunity to address the council, thanking her supporters. Returning board member Mary Boger also was sworn in.
The count of 2,300 provisional ballots on Friday didn't change the order of finish in any of the races. Drayman ended up with 9,230 votes in leading the council slate, with Weaver receiving 7,121 votes for second place. Rafi Manoukian, who did not attend Monday's meeting, was third with 6,606 votes. A total of 24,173 ballots were cast, with a final turnout figure of 25.3 percent.
Greg Krikorian, who finished fourth in the council race, made an appearance at the Tuesday council needing wearing his other hat, as school board president. He invited newly elected mayor Najarian to work with him on civic issues.
Yousefian will continue to serve as chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency, with Drayman vice chair, and Weaver will take over the City Housing Commission.
