James is the Newest Name on the Dais

"I'm very honored to have been selected," John James said Jan. 20 as he took his newest seat on the Redlands City Council dais. "As a council, we certainly will do our duty to represent all the people in Redlands." James, a former Planning Commission chairman with a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of California, Riverside, was appointed by the Redlands City Council that evening to fill the vacancy left by former Mayor Pete Aguilar, who resigned from the position after being elected to Congress in November 2014. James will carry out the remaining two years of Aguilar's term. The new councilmember was among 13 total applicants for the seat who had a chance to give a three-minute presentation on his qualifications for office, provide a two-minute closing statement and take 10 minutes to answer questions from the council. Public voting was done in three rounds, whereby each council member was asked to provide their top four applicant choices in the first round, their top two in the second round and their top choice in the third round. In the final round, Mayor Pro Tem Jon Harrison and Mayor Paul Foster named James as their top choice, with Councilmember Paul Barich naming Terry Vines as his first choice and Councilmember Pat Gilbreath naming Jane Dreher, who was a candidate in the November 2014 Election, as her top choice. Voting was done once more as a majority vote was required; Foster, Harrison and Gilbreath named James as their choice, with Barich holding Vines as his choice. In his presentation, James said his desire for appointment to the city council was due to his drive to "preserve and protect the cultural and historical characteristics of Redlands; seek the type of development and new business that will add value to the future heritage of Redlands; seek the types of new businesses and quality development that will create long-lasting and continuing revenue streams to the city's general fund; and contribute to the budget process to develop yearly budgets that clearly reflect the city's priorities as well as its operations, liabilities and assets." James has served as the president of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce as well as several committees including the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee, chair of the Public Benefit Resources Committee and vice-chair of the Utilities Advisory Committee, among others. These leadership positions and his work in the private sector both as the president of Teledyne Battery Products from 1989 to 1998 and later opening his own company, GEM Power, LLC, in 2000, gave him the qualifications needed to lead as a councilmember, James shared. "My work experience has given me a solid financial and operational background. My Chamber of Commerce experience, along with City Council appointments to a myriad of city commissions and boards, has given me the opportunity to work with staff from virtually all city departments. These opportunities have given me knowledge of city operations from a variety of perspectives. This, along with my business background, has given me the ability to understand the various aspects of the entire city budget, including the effect of the budget on operations and vice-versa." A balanced budget was a primary focus for James, as he described in the questionnaire required as part of the application packet. "The overall budget must address not only current expenditures and financial liabilities but must also address the legacy costs and liabilities facing the city in the longer term," James wrote. He also focused on an updated General Plan, which he said could "codify the strategies, land uses and economic visions needed to meet the budgetary requirements faced particularly relative to the general fund. An updated General Plan will focus on the city at large, preserving and growing the economic, historical and cultural assets of the city." During his presentation, James also said he had a desire to run for election in November 2016, when his term will end. Immediately following his appointment by the city council, James was sworn in to the seat by City Clerk Sam Irwin.