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Community Corner

Pacific Palisades Welcomes New Honorary Mayor

Sugar Ray Leonard takes over from Gavin MacLeod, who held the post for five years.

Pacific Palisades said goodbye to a Love Boat captain and welcomed a boxing legend as honorary mayor Thursday night at the Chamber of Commerce installation dinner.

Gavin MacLeod stepped down and Sugar Ray Leonard took the helm during a ceremony held in the Crystal Ballroom at the Riviera Country Club.

“Gavin has been our honorary mayor for five years, and he’s been a superb mayor who’s always been there for us,” said chamber Executive Director Arnie Wishnick. “But he and his wife moved to the desert, so it’s time for a new mayor.”

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Leonard said that although he eventually consented to being Palisades' 27th honorary mayor, it took some convincing for him to do so. When first asked, he said he didn’t feel worthy of the honor.

“I just felt like I wasn’t mayor material, but now that it’s all settled and I’ve had a chance to breathe, it’s a wonderful honor,” he said.

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Leonard’s wife, Bernadette, his daughter, Camille, and his son, Daniel, were with him at the event. He said that one of the many things he loves about Pacific Palisades is that it is so family oriented.

“We’ve been here since 1993 and we have great friends and great supporters and we live in a wonderful neighborhood,” he said.

MacLeod said he was sad to leave Pacific Palisades and the position he has held longer than any other honorary mayor in the community’s history.

“It’s really been an exciting time for my wife and I. We’ve met some of the nicest people we’ve ever known,” MacLeod said. “So tonight I’m supposed to say goodbye, but I can’t say goodbye. I just love them so much, so I’m just going to say so long."

MacLeod said he would miss the parades, the polo matches and the business mixers.

“I don’t know if I helped, but I went to all these things and I’ve met lots of great people and I’ve just loved being involved,” he said. “We’ve lived here for 10 years, and it was 10 of the best years of our lives.”

The new Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce board of directors and incoming President Greg Wood were also installed during the ceremony. Wood plans to continue the work of outgoing President John Petrick, who focused on technology and making the chamber more interactive.

“I look forward to trying to be involved with the merchants in the area, to get them more involved with the chamber, and to do some outreach to them because these are tough economic times and as much as we can do to support them helps the entire community,” he said. Wood is the chief business officer at Palisades Charter High School, which is the largest employer in Pacific Palisades. “This is my eighth year now at the school, so with 2,800 kids at the high school who are involved in the community, this is a great opportunity for me.”

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