Ken Koperski appointed Colton District 3 councilman

Colton resident Ken Koperski was appointed unanimously to fill the District 3 council seat vacated by Mayor Frank Navarro, during the regularly scheduled city council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The position was advertised in the local paper from Jan. 21 – Jan. 28. While Koperski was the sole applicant who submitted paperwork, Councilman Isaac Suchil indicated resident Gilbert Dominguez had expressed interest for the appointment but missed the filing deadline.

“To me, in my opinion, we shouldn’t let that dissuade anybody from applying,” Suchil noted. “For us just to have one applicant… if we have another interested party we should at least have let him, or her, apply.”

Consensus was reached and Dominguez was afforded the opportunity to approach the podium to answer questions from the dais.

Over the course of the discussion, it was discovered that Dominguez, who owns three residences in the city, is registered to vote in District 5, disqualifying him from consideration.

Koperski, a 41-year resident of Colton and veteran whose four children are products of the Colton Joint Unified School District, is a member of the Knights of Columbus, American Legion, American Vets and the Eagles. He has also served on the Code Enforcement and Housing Commission since 2008.

“I promise to the best of my ability to represent my citizens and work with you gentlemen,” Koperski said after the motion to appoint him passed.

Despite having any formal experience in city government, Mayor Frank Navarro expressed his confidence that Koperski will bring continuity to the council and a voice to the residents of District 3 that would otherwise be unrepresented for another year.

“I’m very happy that the council supported (Koperski), he has a passion for the community and I’ll show him the ropes to the manual procedures of the office,” Navarro said. According to Navarro a special election would have cost the city an estimated $20,000 – $30,000.