OC Weekly editor Ted B. Kissell has announced his resignation.

Managing editor and ¡Ask a Mexican! columnist Gustavo Arellano has been named as his replacement:

“I want to thank all the skinheads, pedophile priests, Know Nothings, and battleship tacos that made this day possible,” Arellano said of taking over the editor’s office. “I look forward to continuing the Weekly‘s mission of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable with the best damn group of writers this side of the Fortean Times. And I promise to offer our disgraced, felonious ex-sheriff Mike Carona a complimentary subscription to our rag so he can get his jollies off to our backpage ads!”

Here’s the full press release we received from Village Voice Media:

Village Voice Media is pleased to announce that Gustavo Arellano is the new editor-in-chief at OC Weekly.

Arellano, who has been the Weekly‘s managing editor for the past year and a half, replaces VVM veteran Ted Kissell, who announced his resignation at the paper’s Monday staff meeting.
“I’m honored to have been part of such an exemplary band of muckrakers, and I’m even more gratified that we earned so many national, regional and local awards during the most challenging economic times our industry has ever faced,” Kissell said. “Having helped guide the Weekly through these challenges, I now feel that the time is right for me to look for new ones. In announcing my resignation, I know that I’m leaving the paper in good shape–and in good hands.”

Prior to joining the Weekly in 2007, Kissell worked as an associate editor and staff writer for VVM’s South Florida publications, Miami New Times and New Times Broward-Palm Beach. He left the Broward paper in 2003 after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship that allowed him to spend a year doing research in Mexico.

Arellano’s association with the Weekly began in 2000, when he wrote an angry letter to the editor. He began freelancing in 2001 and became a staffer upon graduating from UCLA with a master’s degree in Latin American studies.

Widely known as the author of the popular “Ask a Mexican” column, Arellano is also the author of three books, including the forthcoming Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.

Arellano received the Los Angeles Press Club’s President’s Award in 2007, and was recognized by the California Legislative Caucus with a 2008 Spirit Award for his “exceptional vision, creativity and work ethic.”

A lifelong resident of Orange County, Arellano is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom was illegal.