LA City Council Bids Farewell To 12th District Appointee Smith

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY -- On Friday, Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith left his district's seat for a second time and will soon be replaced by Councilman-Elect John Lee.

Smith was appointed to the Council District 12 seat in January after former City Councilman Mitch Englander resigned last fall to join a sports and entertainment company.

Smith returned to office on Jan. 15 after for the first time since the 1960's, the City Council voted to install a full voting member to serve the District until the results of a special election determined a successor. The chosen successor, Lee, is scheduled to be sworn in sometime next week.

``It's been an honor to serve with you twice,'' Council President Herb Wesson told Smith. ``And somewhere, someone is going to write a crazy little history book and there's going to be a footnote that there was one crazy guy who left and came back and got out unscathed.''

Smith said he was appreciative of the compliments from fellow Council members, but he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during his farewell speech.

``Thank God, I'm free at last,'' he said. ``It has been an honor to work with all of you. We did a lot of good things and took care of a lot of business.''

Smith was the lone Republican on the Council, as will be his successor, Lee.

Smith said he's taking a two-and-a-half-month vacation across the country with his wife before returning to work as a reserve police officer. The outgoing Councilman said he came back to City Hall with the same sense of amazement for local government he had when he first arrived about 40 years ago to work a deputy staff member.

Wesson also said some people may have been concerned about filling the role temporarily without an election, but that the decision to appoint Smith was embraced by the west San Fernando Valley residents he represented.

``To have a community to come together and say `yes' without a formal election ... has to be a great honor to you,'' Wesson said. ``You have been such an asset to this house, a stabilizing voice of reason, knowledge and experience.''

Smith had the opportunity to run for another term but chose not to. He first represented the San Fernando Valley district from 2003 to 2011.

City News Service contributed to this report.