WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — With an election looming, the City of Wasco is now tasked with filling a vacant council seat and is slated to decide whether to hold an election with only one nominee for each open seat.
- Following the departure of former Wasco Mayor Alex Garcia, the City put out guidelines for City Council applicants who wish to be appointed to the District 5 seat.
- According to the document posted on the City's website, candidates must apply by August 27 at 5 p.m. and be available for a public interview with the city council on August 30th at 6 p.m.
- The remaining Council members will then vote on their pick to fill the seat and the new City Council member will be sworn in at the regularly scheduled council meeting on September 3.
- When looking at the regularly scheduled election for November, Wasco City Manager Scott Hurlbert says because there is only one nominee for each district that is up for grabs, the City Council will be voting to determine whether to hold a ballot election with a single person on the ballot for each district or to simply appoint the nominees as city council members for the upcoming cycle and save the city money, instead of holding the election.
- Hurlbert said the practice isn't common, but it has been done before in Wasco, most recently during the 2018 Municipal Election.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
While we're still a few months away from the upcoming election, the City of Wasco is now working to fill a spot on its city council well before then.
I'm Sam Hoyle your Wasco neighborhood reporter.
They're working to fill District Five's vacated seat from when former Wasco Mayor Alex Garcia resigned, but now there's a chance that the person appointed will only serve out the remainder of this term.
Last week the city of Wasco put out its rule for those interested in representing District 5.
They need to reside inside the district, be a registered voter, and put in an application by the deadline which is 5 pm on Tuesday, August 27th.
Qualified applicants will then be notified they've moved onto the next step and then will be interviewed at a special city council meeting that Friday, August 30th at 6 pm
And like a popular Tom Petty song, then comes: The Waiting. Wasco City Manager Scott Hurlbert says the new city council member will be appointed following a roll call vote at the regular city council meeting scheduled for September 3rd.
"The applicant with the most votes or a majority of the votes will receive the appointment and will be sworn in right then at that meeting," said Hurlbert.
But there's a chance that the person appointed will only serve out the remainder of this cycle.
As of right now, there are three council seats up for grabs, with only one candidate for each seat.
Hurlbert says there's legal standing for the council to set the city council seats without an election because all three candidates are running unopposed.
"The council will discuss an item on whether to waive the ballot election and simply appoint those three candidates. It's a savings of potentially tens of thousands of dollars," said Hurlbert.
The legal standing that Hurlbert is referring to is part of California elections code 10229, which presents three options.
Appoint someone if no nominations, which they can't because there are nominees
Hold the election with only one person on the ballot
Appoint the sole nominee, which is what the city is recommending to the council to save thousands of dollars that they would otherwise spend on the election.
In Wasco, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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