Dr. Paul Rodriguez, the third cousin of a former councilman, has been chosen to replace Glenn Duncan on the Chino City Council.
The city council voted 3-1 during a special session prior to its July 18 meeting, with mayor Eunice Ulloa dissenting, to appoint Rodriquez, an educator who had previously vied for the council. He will represent District 1 on the city’s newly created council ward map. His term will expire after the November 2018 election.
The vote was held at a special meeting that started directly before the regular council meeting on July 18.
Rodriguez was not the first candidate nominated. Councilman Gary George moved initially to consider planning commissioner Harvey Luth. Luth was supported by Ulloa, but failed to garner the backing of councilmen Tom Haughey and Earl Elrod. Elrod then nominated Rodriguez, which was seconded by Haughey. When George supported Rodriguez in the vote, the matter was closed.
Rodriguez did not join the council for its scheduled agenda at the regular meeting that night but was sworn in at the end of the council’s final action on the regular agenda items. He was in place to hear the council reports that typically close the council’s public session and he then accompanied his colleagues into a closed session, during which no reportable action was taken.
Ezekiel Ortiz, Rodriguez’s grandmother’s first cousin, was a member of the city council in the 1940s.