Ken Miyagishima officially holds the title of
However, Miyagishima and the others won’t officially take office until Nov. 19, when a ceremonial swearing-in is planned.
Today’s ceremony was not previously announced to the public. The city’s municipal code requires that candidates be sworn in within 14 days of the results becoming official, which happened on Thursday, but state law requires that they be sworn in within six days.
Outgoing Mayor Bill Mattiace and others who voters replaced on Tuesday remain in office until Nov. 19. In the meantime, according to the city’s news release announcing today’s action, “no policy making meetings requiring official city council actions are scheduled.”
“It’s no big deal,” Miyagishima said of today’s ceremony. “I just got it done with.”
But Miyagishima and two other candidates who were sworn in today – District 1 Councilor Miguel Silva and District 4 Councilor Nathan Small – have pledged to increase public involvement in city government, and today’s was the official swearing-in, which is a big deal to some.
In the future, the newly elected officials would be wise to ensure the public knows about such events before they take place.