COUNCIL PICKS SHUKLIAN TO BE VISALIA’S NEW MAYOR
By George Lurie
Valley Voice
Nov 30 2011
CA
Trailblazing, two-term Councilor joins Vivier on short list of female
Council leaders
Editor’s note: At a special City Council meeting Wednesday night after
the Valley Voice went to press, Amy Shuklian was the odds-on favorite
(according to an informal Valley Voice poll) to succeed Mayor Bob
Link when the five-member body held its first vote on reorganizing
Council positions.
When Visalians wake up this morning, they will have a new mayor:
Her name is Amy Shuklian and in her own unique, trailblazing style,
she will lead the City Council into 2012.
Shuklian, 49, is just the second woman in Visalia’s history to be
mayor. Mary Louise Vivier served the city in that capacity from1995-97.
Shuklian was first elected to the Council in 2007 and, together with
Link, was handily re-elected last month. While serving as Vice- Mayor
the past two years, Shuklian has been ubiquitous at city-sponsored
events and is the first Council member to hold regular monthly office
hours. In fact, she has attended every Council meeting since 2005.
“Amy exemplifies what a local politician should be all about,” said
Donna Bailey, Visalia’s former director of community services and one
of Shuklian’s earliest supporters. “It’s really important that people
feel like their local Council people are approachable and will listen.
Amy’s a hard worker and obviously cares deeply about her community.
She’s been out there and accessible and has learned how to get
things done.”
Her fellow Council member and immediate predecessor as mayor concurs.
“Amy is concerned about what happens in our city and certainly cares,”
said Bob Link.
“We’ve have had our differences on some issues, but the majority of
the time, we’ve worked well together.
“As one of the city’s most visible boosters, Shuklian’s public persona
is upbeat, gregarious, self-effacing. Her straight-forward style can
at times be blunt but she is also quick to compliment city staff and
her colleagues on the Council, even if a little light-hearted kidding
is involved.
“It’s going to be an honor to represent the city as mayor and I’m
really looking forward to it,” said Shuklian, who was raised on a
farm on the west side of the Kings-Tulare counties line and graduated
from Hanford High before going on to attend College of the Sequoias
and then Fresno State.
“My degree from Fresno State was a B.S., which is only fitting,”
jokes Shuklian, who also happens to be a successful stand-up comedian
who has appeared on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
Actually, Shuklian’s degree was in recreation administration. After
graduating, she lived in Fresno for fifteen years, working at two
psychiatric facilities – “That’s why I am so good at getting along
with my fellow Council members,” she said, making it clear that her
tongue was firmly planted in her cheek.
In 1999, after her father’s death, Shuklian returned to the family
farm to help her mother. Of Armenian descent, Shuklian said she is
“fiercely proud of my ethnicity and culture. My grandmother survived
the [Armenian] genocide,” she said. “She actually saw her own mother
murdered right before her eyes.”
After spending time in a Turkish orphanage, Shuklian said her
grandmother came to America and, at the urging of relatives, traveled
to Visalia, stepping off the train at what is now the Depot Restaurant,
which, Shuklian points out, “ironically, is now owned by our relatives,
the Vartanian family.”
Her grandmother died in 2002 at the age of 100 and Shuklian’s mother,
Rose, a long time fixture at the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, died
this past January. “One of my mom’s last wishes was to live long
enough to see me become mayor,” said Shuklian. “On Election Night,
I know Rose was up there watching and was awful proud of me.”
When asked about her personal life, true to form, Shuklian doesn’t
hesitate to share details. “I have been in a relationship for 18
years,” she said. “I have a partner. Her name is Mary.”
As mayor of a large city, Shuklian acknowledged this week that her
sexual orientation may suddenly be of more interest to people. “I’ve
never hidden it,” she said. “I’m Armenian. I’m a woman. I’m gay. I
guess to some folks it matters. But to a lot of people, I don’t think
it makes any difference. The work I do on the City Council is about
Visalia and what’s best for the city. I’m not going around waving a
rainbow flag or promoting a particular agenda. I never set out to be
poster child for any particular group.”
For the past ten years, Shuklian has worked as a therapist at Kaweah
Delta Rehabilitation hospital, assisting stroke victims and those who
have suffered traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. “My job is to
help people learn adaptive ways to do their recreation and reintegrate
into the community,” she said.
A fervent animal lover and pet owner, Shuklian’s entry into the local
political arena came about after she organized the effort to create
the city’s first dog park at Plaza Park in 2001. Shuklian has been the
Council’s most vocal advocate for building a new city animal shelter,
which the Council just green lighted last month and has also directed
city code enforcement workers to crack down on illegal breeders and
“puppy mills” around the city.
Her success in creating Visalia’s dog park led to Shuklian’s
appointment on the Parks and Recreation Commission and ultimately
inspired her to run for City Council.
In her first Council race, in 2005, she missed being elected by about
1,400 votes, finishing fourth in a large field behind two incumbents
(Jesus Gamboa and Don Landers) and Greg Collins. (As the third-highest
vote getter in last month’s election, Collins rejoined the Council this
week and will serve out the remaining two years of Mike Lane’s term.)
“Visalia may have grown in recent years but it’s still the kind of
community where you can get involved and feel like you can make a
difference,” said Shuklian.
For a number of years while living in Fresno, Shuklian worked with Ray
Appleton at his Screwballz Comedy Club and was twice voted “Fresno’s
Funniest” comedian. As a stand-up comedian, she has opened for big-name
acts like Carrie Underwood, Cyndi Lauper, Jerry Lee Lewis and George
Lopez. “Comedy is my therapy,” she said. “My humor is automatic. I
can’t help it. Sometimes, I really have to bite my tongue.”
Recently, in introducing a resolution honoring Southern California
Edison’s 150 years of service to Visalia, Shuklian said she wanted to
let fellow Council member Steve Nelsen read the proclamation because,
she said, “Steve’s been around for 150 years.”
On the dias, Nelsen chuckled along with audience members. “Amy’s got
an interesting sense of humor,” Nelsen said. “But she knows the City
Council is not a comedy club and I think she’ll take the mayor’s
position very seriously.”
“Decorum is important but sometimes it gets a little heavy up there
and a joke or two helps lighten things up,” said Shuklian.
True to her character, she does not plan to let the new job title go
to her head. “As mayor, I’ll preside over meetings and be the city’s
ceremonial figurehead, but I’ll still have just one vote and no more
real power than any of the other Council members,” she said. “I’ve
even told my friends that if they see me getting too full of myself,
just smack me upside the head and remind me I’m just good old Amy.”