Former Glendale mayor Ara Najarian keeps title in campaign for supervisor seat

In his bid for a seat on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, Councilman Ara Najarian is campaigning as the mayor of Glendale, despite terming out of the role in April.

He’s one of five candidates vying to replace outgoing Supervisor Michael Antonovich and will appear on the June 7 ballot with the title that rotates between local council members every year.

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Najarian filed the ballot designation in February, when he was still mayor, and that’s all that matters, according to state law.

So, to avoid the confusion of reverting to the councilman title on the ballot, he’s sending out campaign mailers labeling himself as mayor, he said.

“I wanted to remain consistent with my advertising in an attempt to prevent confusion,” Najarian said.

All the County Registrar/County Clerk’s office cares about is whether Najarian was actually the mayor at the time of the February ballot filing, said Mike Sanchez, a spokesman with the office.

Although Najarian’s campaigning may be legal, it could be considered an “ethical gray area,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

But, in the end, it’s a matter of opinion that comes down to whether one is a supporter of the candidate or not, Schnur said.

However, Dora Kingsley Vertenten, a public policy professor at USC, said it’s typical for former holders of formal offices to still be referred to titles such as general and president.

“We traditionally allow people to refer to themselves by the highest title they’ve achieved, and so we continue to refer to someone as mayor even if it’s after the fact,” she said.

Najarian was one of three candidates in the race who took issue with L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander — who is also running for supervisor — identifying himself on the June 7 ballot as a police officer, despite being a reserve police officer.

Englander then amended the language to read “council member/reserve policeman.”

His campaign declined to comment on Najarian campaigning as mayor.

The only other issue raised with Najarian’s mailers was one that featured the endorsement of the Glendale Police Officers Assn. because it bore a police badge with the city’s insignia on it.

City Atty. Mike Garcia said local municipal code prohibits the use of the insignia in campaign, so he reached out to Najarian.

After doing so, Garcia said he found out the badge with the insignia was printed by mistake, and that he was assured by Najarian that it wouldn’t happen again.

As for campaigning as mayor, current Mayor Paula Devine said she doesn’t have a problem with Najarian doing so.

“It doesn’t irk me,” Devine said. “I’m not ego-driven, so it’s not upsetting.”

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian