Jeff Drozd, who has been on the Yucca Valley Town Council since 2016 and was previously a member of and the chairman of the town’s planning commission, was chosen by his council colleagues to serve as mayor for the next year. Drozd was presented with the mayor’s gavel by his predecessor, Robert Lombardo.
Drozd said, “Public safety will be the number one priority for me and the town council.”
The town council designated Councilman Merl Abel, who has formerly served as mayor, as mayor pro tem.
In Chino Hills this week, Art Bennett  was named mayor of the county’s southwesternmost city for the third time.
Bennett served previous rounds as mayor, in 2012 and 2016. He was elected to the council in 2008.
Previously, Chino Hills elected its councilmembers in at-large elections, but now does so by district, with voters in each of the city’s five districts eligible to vote for a representative within their district, with no say over the representatives of the city’s other four districts. Candidates for the council can run only as a representative of the district within which each lives.
Bennett was reelected in Chino Hills’ last at-large election in 2016. If he is to remain in office beyond next year, he will need to stand for reelection in the city’s first District 3 election in 2020.
He replaced outgoing Mayor Cynthia Moran. Councilman Brian Johsz was elevated to the position of mayor pro tem.