I've spent my life in Fremont (as scary as that may sound, just try living it), and all my life I've known the honorary mayor of Fremont to be Armen Stepanian.
For good or for bad, depending on who you spoke with and what he'd done lately, Armen made the most of his mayoral influence. Decades after Armen moved away, mythic stories remain of his legendary deeds and the impact he'd made here.
Previous honors
On Aug. 12, the Fremont Historical Society honored Armen at a potluck. Armen told the audience about his numerous experiences, for Armen never sat back and let life pass him by, as well as the history of Fremont's honorary mayors and his place therein.
It surprised me to know that Armen was our fifth, for you never hear about the other four. The Feb. 7, 1947, issue of The North Central Outlook announced the Fremont Old Timers association's election of Thomas W. Lough of Winslow, Bain-bridge Island, as mayor of Fremont. The second sentence in the brief notice referred to the position as honorary.
No mention followed of Mr. Lough's connection to the neighborhood, but Armen recalled him as a fire official, and another former mayor, from the 1920s or '30s, as a state representative.
The position, bestowed as a tribute or award, seems to have been distributed arbitrarily: characteristic Fremont casualness.
Sparking interest
Armen didn't have it so easy, but by 1973, neither did Fremont.
The Fremont U.S.A. newspaper sponsored the election, as a blatant publicity stunt intended to spark interest and boost public opinion of the area. According to Armen, Greg Click, the paper's publisher, "thought it would give us a jolt."
Armen describes the Fremont of the early 1970s as "a comatose lady who had her day but is down in her cups." Our small business district consisted mostly of 11 taverns that earned us the nickname "Tavern Town, Washington."
"The druggies were preying on the hippies," Armen explained, but nothing was done since the victims didn't want to talk to the authorities.
The infant mortality rate in Fremont was the second worst in the city, as a result of the rampant drug abuse by young, disinterested pregnant or nursing women. The police, too accustomed to problems here, lost interest and focused on simply keeping the filth from spreading to neighboring "nice" communities.
General public opinion of Fremont was just to let it sink.
The candidates
"Elect Armen - He's a resident carpenter. He shoots straight and on the level."
Armen agreed to run as the newspaper's candidate, although bearded and roughly dressed; people saw him as a joke.
Fremont U.S.A. ran the election under no official authority, but people responded. The primary had 36 people on the ballot - and one dog. Tommy McAuley, owner of Tom-my's Joint ("almost a restaurant," according to Armen) ran, but someone also signed up Tommy's dog, a black Labrador nicknamed "Blackie II" for the election.
Mel "Blackie" Black, art gallery owner, also ran in the primary, along with local landowner Al Linden, A-1 Litho owner Robert Helena, and Model City staff member Bob Cronn.
These six men - minus the dog - made it through the primary and participated in a public debate held before the final election. Voters needed nothing to prove their eligibility to vote, and wild accusations abounded about voters being brought in from Ballard by the busload.
An examination of the votes did reveal one irregularity: a family of four people registered five votes because they'd counted their family dog. Armen gave his closest competitor the dog's vote and still won. The North Central Outlook for March 7, 1973, reported Armen taking the election at 238 votes over the 200 gained by Helena.
As the newly elected honorary mayor, Armen heard a mandate: "Do all the good you can, and don't expect to get paid." He threw his considerable, and not inconsequential, energy into neighborhood rescue and revitalization. He attended city meetings, issued challenges to Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman and talked to the media every chance he got.
"Anything that had any kind of humor," Armen used to draw positive attention to our neighborhood concerns, anything with something besides death and mayhem.
Another election?
Perhaps we are overdue for another election, but in the meantime, Armen remains mayor here.
Hed be a tough act to follow. Armen didnt single-handedly change the course of Fremont; he took a ceremonial title and turned it into action. Depending on who you ask, Armen made waves and stirred things up here.
As we look to our larger city, state and national elections, isnt it good to know that even the smallest election one that involved slash marks on a chalkboard to count ballots can be the spark to revolutionary changes?
Kirby Lindsay votes at Fremont Baptist Church in every election. She invites your comments at fremont@oz.net.
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