Councilwoman Becomes O.C.’s 1st Black Mayor

Veteran Councilwoman Kathryn McCullough was elected mayor of Lake Forest on Tuesday, ending a years-long conflict in which a divided City Council had passed her over amid allegations of racism.

McCullough, who has been on the City Council since 1994, was the only member who had not been mayor.

Council member Helen Wilson, who had said she would not support McCullough for the largely ceremonial post because she did not consider her up to the job, cast the deciding vote for McCullough.

“We are not a city divided by race,” she said. “We are not a council divided by race, and I wanted to put that issue to rest.”

Council members Richard T. Dixon and Peter Herzog, who voted against McCullough, said earlier that they could not support her but denied any suggestion of racism.

McCullough is the first black council member elected in Orange County and is now its first black mayor. In previous years, some McCullough supporters have said the council majority’s exclusion of her appeared to be racist.

Tuesday’s meeting drew a number of people to speak in support of McCullough, among them Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer and Judy Dunlap, an Inglewood City Council member who lived in Lake Forest for 10 years.

“As the only white official in my city, I too have been subjected to the same thing as Mrs. McCullough,” Dunlap said. “You are elected to serve, you are not here to rule. The thing for you to do is share the role of chair.”

Councilwoman Marcia Rudolph, who nominated McCullough, said after the vote, “God bless Todd Spitzer, and God bless our friend from Inglewood. The people are the ones who won tonight.”

McCullough left the meeting immediately after the vote, which was the last item of council business. “I’m just shocked,” she said. “Now I have to catch a plane.”