With the resignation of Councilmember Garcia, staff would like to discuss the vacancy process and receive direction from Council on their desired timeline and process.

The City Charter states "The Council, by a majority vote of its remaining members, shall, within thirty-one (31) days, fill the vacancies in its own membership, and in the office of Mayor, for the unexpired terms."

The 31-day time period is calculated from the effective date of the resignation, September 25, 2026, as such, the City Council must appoint a new Councilmember on or before Monday, October 26, 2026.

In 2022 there was a vacancy on Council. At that time, the vacancy appointment was handled through an application and interview process. An application form was developed to seek interested Council applicants. The public was given two weeks to submit their application, a letter of interest, and a questionnaire (the Council would meet in Executive Session to determine the questions).

When the application period closed, all applications and supporting materials were forwarded to the Council for their individual review. The Council then met in Executive Session to narrow down the list of applicants to bring forward for interviews at a public meeting. The Council also established questions to ask each applicant during their interview.

Public interviews were held at a Special Council Meeting and each applicant had the opportunity to introduce themselves after which Council would ask their interview questions. The order of the interviews was determined by lottery at the meeting.

Following the public interviews, Council deliberated further and either conducted final interviews or made a selection.

Staff has drafted two possible timelines, one for a one week application period and the second for a two week application period. There are a few decision points still needed from Council and based on Council direction, the timeline will be updated and presented to the Council next week for approval.

Decision Points for Council:

• Would you like to have a formal application process?
  • What will be required - resume, letter of interest, questionnaire, etc.?
• Do you want to interview all applicants or do an initial review of applications?
• Do you want to allow candidates running in the November election to apply?
• Would you like to conduct the applicant and vacancy process through Executive Sessions and Special Meetings on non-Council days (Mon, Wed, Thurs) or attempt to combine with regularly scheduled Council meetings (not recommended)?

Timelines and other specifics will be presented at the meeting.