Council seat empty until June Council seat empty until June (November 19, 2004)

Special election cannot be held for six months, leaving chance of 2-2 votes
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

One of the first orders of business for the new City Council to be sworn in Dec. 7 will be to discuss how to deal with its empty fifth seat being vacated by Mayor-elect Jennifer Hosterman. It turns out that a special election to fill the seat cannot be held until June.

The special election was originally expected to be in March but the results from the Nov. 2 election still have not been certified, and the special election cannot take place less than 113 days after that, City Clerk Dawn Abrahamson said earlier this week.

"The special election will fill the seat until Jennifer's term expires in 2006," Abrahamson said.

With only four City Council members, motions could tie with a 2-2 vote. Hosterman and Councilman-elect Matt Sullivan have joined together in the past on issues such as denying Wal-Mart its expansion.

In order to appoint someone to fill the post until the June election, the council would have to amend the city ordinance or adopt an emergency ordinance.

"In order to adopt an urgency ordinance, certain findings have to be made," said City Attorney Michael Roush, "and it is doubtful whether such findings could be made. Moreover, if the ordinance were amended, it would go into effect in mid-January and the appointment could be made at that time. Unless the ordinance were amended, the fifth council member will not be elected until June."

Hosterman was elected mayor Nov. 2 after completing only half of her four-year term. Councilman Matt Campbell is retiring from the council after one term, and Councilwoman Kay Ayala, who also ran for mayor, is completing her second term and is not now eligible for re-election.

This leaves three empty council seats although only two seats were empty at the time of election. The voters chose Planning Commissioner Sullivan and former school Trustee Cindy McGovern to fill those two empty seats and they will be sworn in at the Dec. 7 City Council meeting along with Hosterman as mayor.

"Staff is not recommending a change to the ordinance," said Roush. "A special election to fill a council vacancy has been the council policy since 1993, and we have had no council direction otherwise. The amendment is simply an option."

The special election will cost an estimated $140,000.

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