Sierra Madre's Joe Mosca Becomes LA County's Fourth Gay Mayor

With 37-year-old Joe Mosca's appointment to mayor of Sierra Madre last week, LA County now has four openly gay mayors—Mosca, West Hollywood's John Heilman, Manhattan Beach mayor Mitch Ward, and Redondo Beach mayor Mike Gin. Mosca, a Democratic city councilman and attorney for the gas company, is married and the father of an adopted child. Mosca's orientation never seemed to be an issue with his peers or the voters of the San Gabriel Valley city of 10,000. "For them, the quality of life in Sierra Madre and what we are doing about the police department and the fire department and some of the other issues in the city, the budget, are much more pressing and much more important than whether Joe's gay or straight, and rightly so," Mosca told the Pasadena Star-News. Mosca started off in politics while living in Sherman Oaks, when he chaired the public safety committee of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and was a member of the city's homeowner's association. He moved to Sierra Madre in 2005 after driving through the city en route to a party: "We just loved it; the downtown had lights in the trees and the Christmas tree was up. It was just beautiful. It was a very quaint town." [Image of downtown Sierra Madre by Tim Harwick via Flickr]
· Sierra Madre's Mosca Becomes San Gabriel Valley's First Openly Gay Mayor [PSN]
· City of Sierra Madre [Official Site]