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UPDATE 7:30pm | Councilmember Gary DeLong withdrew his attempt to attend Tuesday's City Council meeting via teleconference because the only item on the agenda, a vote to determine the next Vice Mayor, will be postponed until all members of the council are present.

"I withdrew my request because I was advised that there would be an initial motion to continue the item until there was a full council," DeLong wrote in an e-mail to the LBPOST.com today.

UPDATE 4:30pm | Councilmember Gary DeLong has decided not to interrupt his Bahamian vacation to vote for the next Vice-Mayor via teleconference.
  
Long Beach City Clerk Larry Herrera said that Councilmember DeLong withdrew his request to vote via teleconference Monday afternoon.
  
After the swearing in of newly-elected Councilmembers James Johnson and Steve Neal on Tuesday, the City Council is set to decide who will serve in the essentially figurehead position of Vice-Mayor. In the past, the Vice-Mayor position has traditionally gone to the person with the most seniority on the Council. However, a decision by Councilmember Suja Lowenthal to seek the title has evenly split the current Council between those looking to elect Councilmember Patrick O'Donnell--the most senior member of the Council who wants the role--and Lowenthal.
  
The dynamics could change dramatically tomorrow when Councilmember-elects Johnson and Neal take their seats behind the dais. Neither has publicly stated who they might vote for.
  
Councilmember O'Donnell and Councilmember-elect Johnson both said they preferred to wait until after tomorrow's Council meeting to issue any comments about the Vice-Mayor vote.
  
Councilmember Gerrie Schipske, a vocal proponent of the traditional method of selecting the Vice-Mayor as well as critic of Councilmember DeLong's plans to vote from the Bahamas, was unavailable for comment.

UPDATE 3:30pm | According to an e-mail from City Clerk Larry Herrera, Councilman Gary DeLong has withdrawn his request to teleconference into tomorrow's Long Beach City Council meeting from his vacation in the Bahamas.

The obvious question now becomes, why would he withdraw the request and what does this mean for the battle for Vice Mayor? That vote is tomorrow's only item and is hotly contested between the DeLong-backed Suja Lowenthal and Patrick O'Donnell.

More to come...

2:30pm | If you happen to be in the Bahamas Tuesday evening, you have a rare treat available--you can attend the Long Beach City Council meeting at one of the island nation's more exclusive resorts.
  
That's right. On Tuesday evening at 8:00 p.m., EST, you can walk right into the Ritz-Carlton managed Abaco Club resort and sit down with Councilmember Gary DeLong as he literally phones in his vote for the single item on the agenda this week.
  
Councilmember DeLong is on vacation at the resort and under California state law he is permitted to participate in the meeting via teleconferencing. But so are you, if you happen to be in the Bahamas. Just follow the signs. Look for the posted City Council agenda at the ritzy resort--the California state law says that notices must be posted at each teleconference location. State law also says that the public must be given access and that the location be accessible to disabled members of the public. So, if the Councilmember is calling in from one of the 543-acre resort's beachside cabanas (no one has said from where at the resort the Councilmember will be calling from), you have the right to show up and hang out with him for the duration of the Council meeting. For those of us that might have to stay at the Bahamas Motel 6 (if we even could afford even that), it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity since the private cabanas range from about $600 to more than $1,400 a night.
  
Personally, though, I am offended by the Councilmember's action.
  
Not because he is voting while on vacation. It's really none of my business if the Councilmember takes time off. And it's tough to find fault with a Councilmember actually going out of their way to show up for a vote when they don't have to.
  
No, I am offended because he chose the Bahamas and not Barbados. The first Higginbotham in the New World, and progenitor of the nearly the entire family name in the United States, was the British governor of Barbados in the early-1600s, so I feel a little familial loyalty to the place. I mean, come on, they don't even play cricket in the Bahamas. What's next, summer with the Euro-trash on St. Barts?
  
As to the item on Tuesday's Council meeting agenda that is so important Councilmember DeLong plans to interrupt his vacation is the Council vote to select the next Vice-Mayor. In the past, the position is typically voted to the most senior person--service-wise--on the Council. Using this traditional method, the role would fall to Councilmember Rae Gabelich, however she has said she isn't interested and would instead support the number two most senior member of the Council--Councilmember Patrick O'Donnell, who is very interested. This time around, however, and despite tradition, Councilmember Suja Lowenthal believes she is the most qualified for this essentially figurehead position.
  
Last Tuesday, the Council tried to pass a rule codifying the passing of the Vice-Mayor title to the most senior member of the Council that wanted it, but the motion failed after a deadlocked 4-4 vote since Councilmember Gabelich was absent (reportedly not on vacation at City Hall East in the Bahamas). Councilmembers Garcia, Lowenthal, DeLong and Lerch voted against the traditional method with Councilmembers O'Donnell, Schipske, Andrews and Reyes-Uranga voting for tradition.
  
It appears that Councilmember Lowenthal may get her way with this one, though. Two Councilmembers (Reyes-Uranga and Lerch) will be officially replaced Tuesday by incoming Councilmembers James Johnson and Steve Neal immediately prior to the vote for Vice-Mayor. Last week, the outgoing Councilmembers Reyes-Uranga and Lerch split their votes on codifying the traditional way of selecting the Vice-Mayor, with Reyes-Uranga for and and Lerch against.
  
The scuttlebutt around City Hall is that both of the freshman Councilmembers are likely to vote for Councilmember Lowenthal. In addition, it appears that at last Tuesday's meeting Councilmember Dee Andrews--who voted with O'Donnell's camp--actually meant to vote with the Lowenthal clique. If the two incoming Councilmembers and Councilmember Andrews support Lowenthal, look for a vote of 6-3 naming Lowenthal Vice-Mayor. If the incoming Councilmembers split their vote, Lowenthal is still likely to come out on top as Vice-Mayor in a 5-4 vote. However, neither Johnson or Neal have publicly said who they plan to vote for, so Councilmember O'Donnell could emerge as the new Vice-Mayor if he can garner both of the two new Councilmembers' votes.

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