Los Alamitos' Marilynn Poe Will Not Seek Reelection

Los Alamitos Mayor Pro Tem Marilynn Poe will not seek reelection, saying she made a promise to her family.

“My children reminded me that I promised I would only do one more term,” the long-time city resident told Patch Friday.  “I said ‘You know what, you guys are right.’ And to me, you know, a promise given is a promise that has to be kept.”

Though the longtime city resident pulled papers to run for City Council, she said her children convinced her not to file those papers.

Before her current four-year term, Poe served on the city council from 1994 to 2006 before term limits required her to skip a term. She also served on the Parks and Recreation commission and currently serves as the president of the .

Alice Jempsa, Poe’s longtime friend and former city mayor who served with Poe on the council, said Poe has been working for Los Alamitos for decades.

“She’s lived here since she was 2 years old,” Jempsa said. “She knows everybody and everybody knows her. And her heart is just here.

• Check back later today to read the comment letter Poe sent to Patch about her time in the city.

In the past four years, Poe said there were a number of council accomplishments she was proud of such as halting the city's trend in deficit spending, ending the “revolving door” of city employees and filling empty positions in the police department.

With the support of the community and the council, Poe said she has been involved with a number of projects benefiting Los Alamitos since 1994, including:

• adding medians with trees down Katella Avenue and Los Alamitos Blvd.
• putting bathrooms in at Cottonwood Park
• helping to open the Joint Forces Training Base pool to the public

Poe also said she was pleased with the city's trash contract with Consolidated Disposal Service, one of the more controversial issues to pass through City Hall recently. 

A pair of residents filed a lawsuit against the city alleging Los Alamitos Councilmembers such as Poe violated city code when they awarded its $24.5 million trash-hauling contract to a company that wasn't the lowest bidder. but ruled that the city

One of these plaintiffs, JM Ivler, said he was not sorry to see Poe go.

“I’m very happy she is stepping down,” he said.

“Marilynn Poe believed Los Al was Mayberry RFD,” said resident Ivler. “In the age of the Jetsons, it is definitely time for newer, younger people to step up.”

Despite criticism from her political foes, her supporters and even councilmembers who were often at odds with her on contentious city issues laud her dedication to the city.

“You never doubted Marilynn’s sincerity on anything," said Jempsa. "This was her home and she loved it.”

Poe says she’s proud of the work she’s done in the city.

With the end of her term approaching, she says she’s looking forward to spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.

She said she does not plan to run again in the future.

“It’s been an honor to be a public servant in Los Alamitos,” she said. “And I thank the people that supported me during the years that I was on (the council.)"

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