Wave Staff and Wire Reports
HUNTINGTON PARK — Arturo Flores has been named the new mayor of the city, officials announced.
Flores, who was the city’s vice mayor, was elected to the leadership position at the March 17 City Council meeting during the council’s annual reorganization.
A Marine veteran with two combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he has served on the City Council since September 2022.
“Although I am now the mayor of Huntington Park, I recognize that this is a team effort among the City Council,” Flores said in a statement. “I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues for the benefit of our community.
“This is a crucial time, and transparency and accountability to our residents are of utmost importance. I am committed to maintaining an open-door policy to discuss matters that impact us all, while striving to implement initiatives that will enhance our community.”
The City Council also selected Andrew Sarega as interim city attorney following the resignation of former City Attorney Arnold Glasman on Feb. 28. Since December 2024, Sarega has provided legal services to the city under a special counsel agreement.
It was the first time the City Council had met since investigators from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office served a series of search warrants Feb. 26 at City Hall and at the homes of the city’s former Mayor Karina Macias, Councilman Eduardo “Eddie” Martinez, City Manager Ricardo Reyes and others as part of a probe into possible misuse of public money tied to an aquatics center construction project.
“Numerous items were seized from each location including public records maintained by the city of Huntington Park, financial paperwork, computers, tablets, cell phones and various forms of electronic equipment,” according to a statement issued by the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman did not provide specifics about the investigation, saying only that it began in November 2022 and focuses on the construction of an aquatic center at Salt Lake Park in the City of Huntington Park.
Plans for the aquatic center began in 2019. Six years later, the community is still waiting for construction to begin. According to the city’s website, construction will take between 12 and 18 months once the project begins.
