On Monday, the Pittsburg City Council selected Arlene Kobata to fill its vacancy on the city council. She took the oath of office after the appointment.
Kobata (Siu Ling) fills the seat which was vacated after former councilmember Shanelle Scales-Preston was elected to the County Board of Supervisors. She was selected in a 4-0 vote.
“I just want to thank you for believing in me and I promise that I will do my best to represent the City of Pittsburg and the residents. And to do my best the best for our future and community. Thank you so much,” said Kobata after being sworn into office.
According to her application, she has been a 36-year resident of Pittsburg while also serving on the Community Advisory Commission and the Planning Commission.
Vice Mayor Dionne Adams said while serving on the planning commission, Kobata was one of her mentors and she was able to walk her through different plans.
“Her knowledge was just tremendous for me,” said Adams. “When I think about where the city is looking to go, that knowledge is important as far as keeping the spirit of what we decided to do as a city… she draws people together and has a community of people who she has a listening ear to and she is a listener within the community. She has a level of respect and believability within the community and I think that is important as a councilmember.”
She continued calling Kobata collaborative and works with people who do not agree with her while seeking out understanding—which she called courage. She also said she was glad Kobata came forward as she has the qualified of a councilmember.
Councilmember Juan Banales says he has seen Kobata be thoughtful in decision making and spends a lot of time getting to the root of the problem and to understand issues while noting she is very involved in the community with a passion to serve residents.
“I’ve also seen her be able to push back with factual information to help inform residents and actually invite them into and engage them into civic government which I think is incredibly important and valuable,” stated Banales. “I’ve seen her uplift others and uplift our city and see her compromise to ensue progress for our city while she was on the planning commission. Overall, I think she will do a great job filling the vacancy on the city council.”
Councilmember Angelica Lopez said she was not going to base her decision on what was said on Facebook or any other social media platform and instead was looking for someone who has previously served the city, not for personal gain, but love for “you guys”. She called Kobata her top choice.
The city opted for an appointment process versus a special election—potentially saving $700k which was the estimated cost of a special election.
Kobata was selected after she was one of four finalist — including Wolfgang Croskey, Joanna Marie Hernandez and Robert Lewis (For recap of answers, click here). To start the process, a total of 23 qualified applicants submitted applications to fill the seat.
Top Candidates Stated by City Council:
- Mayor Jelani Killings: Wolfgang Croskey
- Vice Mayor Dionne Adams: Arlene Kobata
- Councilmember Juan Banales: Arlene Kobata
- Councilmember Angelica Lopez: Arlene Kobata
Note: Here is the list of total applicants which resulted in 18 total interviews at its January 6 meeting which had two total rounds of questions. 19 of the 23 original applicants took an interview during the meeting. If any candidate received two votes they would automatically move onto round 2. After two rounds of voting, only Croskey and Kobata had two votes which is when Banales suggested the council to continue the process until they had four candidates for round 2.
Interview Order:
- Nicole S Arrington
- Johanni Benitez
- Wolfgang Croskey
- Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez
- Jamal Harris
- Joanna Marie Hernandez
- Alvin Jackson
- Arlene (Siu Ling) F Kobata
- Robert T. Lewis
- Lisa N Mapheators
- Marcus Derell Mcfarland
- Dana M. Mims
- Matthew Muegge
- Andy Nguyen
- LeJon A Payne
- Erik Alexander Perez
- Ivelina Dimitrova Popova
- Shaniea Lanay Rodgers
- Khurram Shah
- Sonja Shephard
- Donna Marie Smith
- Lailani Souza
- Romero Amariyah Wesson
Agenda – click here
Previous Stories:
- Jan 8 – Pittsburg Down to 4 Finalist for Vacant Council Seat
- Jan 3 – 23 Apply for Vacant Pittsburg City Council Seat
- Dec 18 – Pittsburg Accepting Applications to Fill City Council Vacancy