Davitt, Olhasso and Voss Sworn In to LCF City Council

Following an hour of proclamations and praise from city and county offcials, outgoing mayor Don Voss passed the gavel to Dave Spence, who assumed the mayoral position Monday for an unprecedented fifth time. Members nominated Stephen Del Guercio as Mayor Pro Tem.

Taking the oath of office for the first time, Michael Davitt joined veteran council members Voss and Laura Olhasso in beginning their four-year terms. Outgoing councilman Greg Brown said after eight years on the council, he believes he's leaving the city in a better condition than when he inherited it.

"No on person can make anything happen in a city. It takes a team pulling together, and that’s what’s been so great about working with this council,'' Brown said.

For Spence, the veteran councilman assumes the position as he and his family grapple with their son, Andrew’s devastating accident in February. Andrew, 45, underwent multiple surgeries after a North Hollywood man struck the younger Spence in a crosswalk, the man’s tires rolling over Spence’s leg. 

“I’m not a real emotional person,’’ Spence told Patch recently. “But when your son’s lying in a hospital bed and asks, ‘Hold my hand, Daddy,’ that really gets to you.’’

Spence's previous mayoral terms included 1994-95, 2000-01, 2002-03 and 2007-08.

When Brown began his council tenure, mansionization, a shortage of ball fields and unsafe conditions on Angeles Crest Highway faced the council. Unfortunately it took a double-fatal accident to get the state’s attention, he said, but now ACH has runaway truck ramps and signs forbidding trucks over three axles.

Back then, “Everybody thought JPL was in Pasadena. It’s in La Cañada – we even built a sign, that was controversial. And now at least half the articles written have JPL in the right place,’’ Brown said.

He mentioned more open spaces, such as , the completed 12-mile trail loop that treks around the city and the completed Town Center project as major accomplishments that helped revitalize the city during his time on the council.

Although Brown’s tenure is over, the executive vice president and general counsel for BreitBurn Energy in Los Angeles is hardly retiring.

“It’s just a little shift in emphasis, a re-balancing of family life,’’ he said, adding he’s looking forward to more trips back east to visit his daughter.