City Council
MEETING DATE: 12/10/2014
TITLE:
Title
Options for Filling Vacant Council Seat
End
FROM:
Charlie McClendon, City Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
This item is presented for Council discussion and direction to staff.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Cathedral City voters, on November 4, 2014, elected Councilmember Stan Henry as Mayor. The term of Mayor Henry's former Council seat does not expire until December 2016. With Mayor Henry being sworn in as Mayor on December 2, the Council seat is now vacant.
DISCUSSION:
The Government Code 36512 provides that, in the event of a vacancy on the City Council, the remaining Council members must act within 60 days to either make an appointment or call a special election to fill the vacant seat. Each of the options is discussed below:
Option 1 - Special Election - The Council may vote to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Staff contacted the Riverside County Registrar of Voters and obtained information on the timelines, which would have to be followed, for a special election as well as the estimated cost. A special election could be conducted one of two ways.
Option 1A is an all mail election (Election Code 4004). In this case the election date would be May 5, 2015. The election would have to be called, by action of the City Council, no later than January 11, 2015 and the estimated cost would be $47,000 to $57,000.
Option 1B is a traditional polling place election where the voters have the option to vote by mail, using the early voting process, or vote at the polling place on Election Day (Election Code 1000). In this case the election date would be June 2, 2015. The election would have to be called, by action of the City Council, no later than February 8, 2015 and the estimated cost would be $57,000 to $67,000.
Option 2 - Appointment - The Council also has complete discretion to appoint an individual to serve out the remaining two years of the term. There is no requirement that Council appoint one of the candidates from the recent election. The only legal requirement for the appointee is that they must be a registered voter in Cathedral City. There is also no requirement that the opening be posted or that Council accept applications or interview interested candidates. If Council would like such a process, however, a possible process and timeline is laid out below:
December 11, 2014 - Post the opening on the website and invite interested candidates to submit a letter of interest and a resume. Notice will indicate that the applicants must be available for an interview on the afternoon of December 17, 2014.
December 16, 2014 - 12:00 noon deadline for submission of interest letters and resumes
December 17, 2014 - 1:00 pm special meeting for Council to interview applicants and then consider an appointment. If Council votes to make an appointment the new Councilmember could be sworn in immediately.
This time line is not exclusive, a similar process could be conducted with different dates. The advantage to making an appointment soon, rather than later, is that the new Councilmember could then attend the League newly elected officials training and the Council planning retreat, both of which will be held in January.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The vacant Council position is fully funded in the budget.
ATTACHMENTS:
Letters submitted for the record.