STANTON : Commissioner to Fill Vacant Council Seat

The City Council this week appointed Linda J. Pappas Diaz, a planning commissioner, to a vacant seat on the council after interviewing 17 applicants.

Pappas Diaz, 37, is assistant to Buena Park City Manager Kevin O’Rourke. She has lived in Stanton for four years.

“I just want to do as much as I can for the community,” Pappas Diaz said after her appointment Wednesday.

The council interviewed people for four hours and voted 10 times before naming the replacement for former council member Joe V. Harris. Pappas Diaz will serve until November, 1994, when Harris’ term was due to expire.

Council members said they were impressed by Pappas Diaz’s experience working in city government. She has worked for the public works, development services and personnel departments of Cerritos, Costa Mesa, Downey and Placentia. Her first job with a city was in 1970 for Placentia.

“She knows city government,” said Councilman Harry Dotson.

Pappas Diaz said one of her first priorities will be to help some of the other applicants for the council seat work for the city in other capacities.

“There’s a lot of different ways to get involved in the city, and I don’t want to lose that citizen involvement,” she said.

She said she wants to contact some of those applicants to encourage them to serve on community boards and committees. She was appointed to the Planning Commission in April after serving on the Community Services Commission.

Pappas Diaz said she also wants to bring more businesses into the city. A brief reception will be held for her at 6:15 p.m. before the Oct. 26 council meeting.