Staff Reports Walnut – At the Walnut City Council meeting on Wed., June 26, the City Council let staff know that they will likely appoint someone to fill Walnut Mayor Tom King’s seat, since he recently announced his retirement. The Council has three options to fill King’s seat: have a special election, appoint someone to his seat, or keep the seat vacant, according to Management Analyst/Public Information Officer Fabiola Huerta. City Council members expressed their support of appointing someone at this week’s City Council meeting. They believed it was a good process and the smartest move out of the three options. A special election didn’t seem like the best choice to the Council members because it would have cost over $100,000 and wouldn’t have occurred until next year, which is when the next City Council election will occur anyways. King also expressed his support of appointing someone to fill his seat and even mentioned former council members, commissioners, and candidates as good replacements for him. He also said that the City Council should open the position up to anybody because there are a lot of good people who can fill his position temporary or even permanently. City staff will be accepting applicants to fill the position and plan to officially announce the appointment next week. They will also hold a special meeting on July 31 to select an appointment. The Council must appoint someone by Aug. 29 and that appointed person will serve until the City’s next election on April 8, 2014, according to local reports. King recently announced his retirement, effective July 1, at the City Council meeting on Wed., June 12 after he and his wife sold their Walnut home. They decided to move out of town to live in a house that better suites their empty nest and leave their beautiful one-acre property for another family to enjoy. King has been a huge part of the Walnut community for 16 years. He was first elected to the Walnut City Council in 2002 and served twice as Mayor from July 2005 to September 2006. He was reappointed Mayor by the City Council on November 25th, 2009 for the third time and on April 24, 2013 for his fourth time. From 1999 to 2002 he served on the Planning Commission and served on the Parks and Recreation Commission from 1993-1999. He also chaired both Commissions prior to his election to the City Council. At the June 26 Council meeting, King was awarded and recognized for all the hard work he’s done in the City of Walnut. This Council meeting was King’s last meeting as Mayor, so many community members came out to show their appreciation of King. Some of the community members that recognized King at the meeting included: the Walnut Council members, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff Capt. Jeff Scroggin, Diamond Bar Mayor Jack Tanaka, Mayor Pro Tem Ron Everett, Councilwoman Ling-Ling Chang, and representatives from the offices of Sen. Bob Huff, Assemblyman Curt Hagman, and U.S. Ed Royce. King expressed his appreciation of all the awards, certificates, and gifts that were given to him.