Charles Cooper continues his Arcadia city centennial series "Memories of Arcadia" with a story about Arcadia's mayors. A. N. Multer was the first person to be given the title of mayor of Arcadia. City founder Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin was the city's first presiding officer, but he held the title of president of the Board of Trustees. The title of mayor was not adopted until 1927, when the Board of Trustees changed to the City Council. Arcadia will have 4 mayors this year to mark the city's centennial. Each city council member will rotate into the position. More interesting facts: Floretta Lauber was the first woman to serve as mayor. She paved the way for Mary Young, Barbara Kuhn, and Gail Marshall to follow. Other history of mayors is recapped. The first city manager was William J. Richards in 1951, when a charter was adopted. The longest serving city official was City Clerk Christine Van Mannen, who held the job for 32 years. See hard copy in VF Arcadia (City) History.
Asians make up more than 47% of the city's total population of 53,421. The largest group is Chinese-American. John Wuo discusses what makes Arcadia such an attractive city for Asians.
John Kemp, a native of Arcadia, will play for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program (NTDP). Kemp played for the Los Angeles Junior Kings last season.
Elizabeth Cox, Josh Silverman, and Corey Stubbs were honored by Mayor Mickey Segal for saving the life of crossing guard Richard Bauer. The students were making a video about life in Arcadia when he had a heart attack. They called 911.
Lisa Welchert, who crashed into a station wagon, killing John Chan, while driving drunk, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.