56. Exclusively...

Leonis C. Malburg abruptly retired on June 8 from his seat on the Vernon city council. A fact unremarkable in itself. Elected officials resign all the time. And some of them, like Malburg, resign without explanation, without a whisper or a rumor. But Malburg had been a city council member for 53 years. Until last month, Malburg had been mayor of Vernon since 1974. His grandfather had founded the city in1905 and on his death had turned it over to his grandson.Malburg's departure has more in common with the passing of the Doge of Venice or a Russian tsar than the regular processes of civic life.

Former Council Member Malburg's colleagues were, until a few months ago, four old men like himself who earned gold lapel pins for their decades of elected service. In nearly all of the election years during those decades, they all had run unopposed.

Vernon Council Member Thomas Ybarra retired in January, after more than 40 years on the city council. The remaining council members appointed Richard J. Maisano to fill the vacant seat. Succession to the Vernon City Council is typically through appointment rather than by election, much like being elevated to the College of Cardinals. Maisano's sketchy biography in the city newsletter refers to him as a "business owner" without further attribution.

Maisano is invisible on the web, except as a Vernon city council member.

The four surviving members of the city council, including the newly appointed Council Member Maisano, will probably appoint a replacement to fill Malburg's unexpired term. A special election is another possibility, but unlikely.

That's because there are less than 90 potential voters in Vernon, a city that proudly and repeatedly calls itself "exclusively industrial." There is only one single-family, owner-occupied home in Vernon (according to the 2000 census). Nearly everyone else lives in rent-subsidized housing provided by the city. Nearly everyone works for the city, too.

You can see where this is going, can't you? Criminal and civil charges relating to his service on the city council have been filed by the county prosecutor against Malburg, his elderly wife, and son. The case will be tried soon. The Vernon city council is suing Malburg for $1.5 million in legal fees the city paid to defend him against those charges. Malburg's son is already in prison on a separate guilty of plea of child molestation, according to a recent story in the Times.

Bruce V. Malkenhorst, former city manager of Vernon, also is facing trial on charges of misappropriating city funds to cover his personal expenses, The charges followed an investigation that goes back to 2004.

When Malkenhorst abruptly retired in 2005, the Vernon city council appointed his son to most of his father's many job titles, including that of city clerk. The younger Malkenhorst left in 2007. It may have been abruptly, like so much else in Vernon's recent political life, but his tenure in Vernon is mostly invisible, too. Except for his efforts as city clerk to suspend the results of an election that the Vernon city council feared was actually contested. When the city was forced, months after the election, to count the 68 ballots cast, the relief in Vernon was palpable. The closed Vernon system had worked. All the incumbents had been re-elected.

The image on this page was taken by Flickr user hexodus. It was used under a Creative Commons license.