Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow to stay in posts for second term

Current Mayor Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow will serve a second one-year term in their positions, their colleagues on the City Council decided Tuesday night.

“Thank you, council, it’s quite an honor. I’ll do the best I can here over the next 12 months and have another one of these,” Whalen said, holding up a plaque that Dicterow presented him just before the unanimous vote.

Dicterow withdrew his name from consideration as mayor at the council’s Sept. 10 meeting, citing personal reasons, but he agreed Tuesday to serve in his current role for a second term.

“As Yogi Berra said, ‘Deja vu all over again,’ right?” Whalen joked.

Whalen and Dicterow were first elected to the council in 2012. Whalen succeeded Kelly Boyd as mayor in 2018 and also served as mayor in 2015. Dicterow was mayor in 2016.

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