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Ripon council picks de Graaf as mayor
de Graaf
Mayor Daniel de Graaf

Daniel de Graaf gladly accepted his new position as mayor for the City of Ripon.

He was selected to the position for the first time at the Dec. 8 Ripon City Council meeting.

Fresh off a successful re-election campaign, de Graaf kicked off his second term in office by being administered the oath of office by City Clerk Lisa Roos. He was joined by newcomer Tim Wheeler and Leo Zuber, who is beginning his third term in office – Zuber was sworn in remotely, opting to join the monthly session via Zoom along with most of city staff due to the latest COVID-19 restrictions as provided by the California Department of Public Health and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

Since 2012, the City of Ripon has selected the honorary positions of mayor and vice mayor on a rotational basis. Daniel de Graaf moved up from vice mayor to mayor, with Dean Uecker easing into the position of vice mayor during the annual re-organization meeting – they’re followed, respectively, by Mike Restuccia, Zuber and Wheeler.

The latter received some encouragement from his fellow councilmen.

“I’ll give you the same piece of advice I received from Councilman Zuber – you’re one of us, feel free to speak your mind. That’s what we’re here for,” said de Graaf to Wheeler.

Jake Parks officially closed out his duties on the Council. He was elected the same time as Zuber some eight years earlier, but chose not to run for a third time.

“This last year was hectic and chaotic. I’m extremely proud of the work we did on the Council to provide relief from COVID to make sure our community was safe. I would not have trade this for anything,” said the two-time mayor.