Ken Weise appointed to Avondale council

Daniel Burnette, staff writer
West Valley View
2/3/2006

Doing his homework on issues affecting Avondale paid off for Ken Weise, who won out over nine other candidates to fill a vacancy on the City Council.

Weise clearly “did his homework” Councilman Jason Earp said in nominating the 40-year-old field application engineer for Newark InOne.

The six council members interviewed a total of 10 candidates in a lengthy special meeting the night of Jan. 30.

The vacancy occurred when Marie Lopez Rogers was named mayor in early January, soon after Ron Drake resigned to run for a seat in Congress.

Weise will serve out Lopez Rogers’ unexpired council term, which runs through December 2007.

As did Earp, Councilwoman Betty Lynch cited preparation as a key to setting Weise above the other nine candidates, two of whom — Gail Leitner and Stephanie Karlin — were recent members of the City Council.

“He knew the ins and outs of the South Mountain Freeway, instead of just speaking vaguely about transportation issues,” Lynch said.

In his responses to a questionnaire, Weise also commented on the fact that Avondale essentially is landlocked and therefore “in the next seven to 10 years we need to transition from an almost purely growth economy relying on new homes and residents to drive our bottom line to a city that focuses on keeping our neighborhoods vital … .”

Although new to the council, Weise has served on the city’s Charter Review Committee.

Weise has served on the board of Trinity Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran School. He now serves on the board of the Rancho Santa Fe Homeowners Association, for which he previously has served as secretary, vice president and treasurer.

Weise served as chairman of Chuck Wolf’s campaign last year for the City Council.

Weise has lived in Avondale for about 10 years. He and his wife, Shari, have two children.