That the City Council provide direction to staff regarding a process to fill an expected vacancy on the City Council.

At the Regular City Council Meeting of February 5, 2024, Councilmember Simonian announced his resignation from City Council effective April 5, 2024, and subsequently provided written confirmation of such to the City Clerk’s Office on February 7, 2024. Councilmember Simonian can legally rescind his resignation before April 5, 2024. Pursuant to Government Code Section 36512(b), the City Council has 60 days from the effective date of Councilmember Simonian’s resignation to either appoint someone to serve the duration of his four-year term, which expires on December 16, 2024, or can choose to leave the seat vacant until the November 2024 election, after which a newly elected Councilmember will be seated at the December 16, 2024, City Council reorganization meeting when new Councilmembers are sworn in. The 60-day deadline to take either action is Tuesday, June 4, 2024.

Given that the expected vacancy will occur during the second half of Councilmember Simonian’s four-year term, if the City Council chooses to fill the vacancy by appointment, the term of office for the appointee would only extend until the end of Councilmember Simonian’s current term, which is December 16, 2024.[1]

If the City Council chooses to fill the vacancy by special election, the special election must be at the “next regularly established election date not less than 114 days from the call of the special election.”[2]  The next regularly established election[3] that could be at least 114 days after calling the election would be the November 5, 2024 General Election. That, however, is also the date of the election to fill the next term of Councilmember Simonian’s seat. Therefore, the actual effect of choosing this option would be to leave the seat vacant until the winners of the November 5, 2024 election take office on December 16, 2024.   

Any eligible person appointed by City Council to fill the expected vacancy will serve until December 16, 2024, at which time the City Council reorganization will occur and the newly elected City Councilmembers who successfully run for the three four-year seats (including the seat that Councilmember Simonian currently holds) that are on the November 2024 General Election would be sworn-in to office to fill the seats for full-terms ending on December 18, 2028.

State law does not place restrictions on the City Council’s appointment process, nor does it require the City Council to fill a vacant seat. However, if the City Council decides to fill the expected vacancy by appointment, staff recommends that City Council direct staff to develop an application and interview process similar to the approach the City Council uses for the appointment of City Commissioners. City Council can also choose to make a direct appointment of any eligible resident, with or without going through an application and interview process. Either option requires approval by at least three Councilmembers.
 
Elections Code Section 201 titled “Eligibility to be elected or appointed” indicates that, unless otherwise specifically provided, no person is eligible to be elected or appointed to an elective office unless that person is a registered voter and otherwise qualified to vote for that office at the time that nomination papers are issued to the person or at the time of the person’s appointment.

There are several regularly scheduled City Council meeting dates that occur after the date of the expected vacancy and before the 60-day deadline to appoint occurs on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. City Council can also choose to schedule additional Special City Council meetings as necessary during the 60-day time period to review applications and schedule candidate interviews, should City Council choose to do so.

In the event the City Council chooses to appoint an individual to the expected vacant City Council seat via an application and interview process, the City Clerk’s office will update and modify the existing Citizen’s Board and Commission Application to become an application specific to the position of City Councilmember. It is unknown how many eligible residents may choose to apply for the expected vacant Council seat; therefore, staff recommends that the City Council consider establishing a limit on the number of applicants to be interviewed by providing each City Councilmember the opportunity to select 3 to 4 eligible applicants to be interviewed by City Council. City Council could also consider establishing a pre-designated list of questions to ask each applicant to ensure consistency during interviews, and could also considering establishing a total time limit per applicant and/or Councilmember for questions and answers during interviews.

Alternatively, City Council could elect to receive and review applications and then appoint an eligible resident to the vacant City Council seat without conducting any interviews. Another option available to the City Council is to choose not to go through an application and interview process at all and, instead, directly appoint an eligible resident to the vacant City Council seat. Finally, the City Council could decide not to fill the seat and leave it vacant until December 16, 2024, at which time the newly elected City Councilmember will be sworn-in to office.

If the City Council chooses to use one of the appointment processes described in this report to fill the expected vacant City Council seat, such appointment must occur at a regularly or specially scheduled City Council meeting after the expected vacancy occurs but prior to Tuesday, June 4, 2024. If the City Council does not fill the vacancy by appointment, the vacancy shall be filled at the next regularly established election date.

Regardless of which option the City Council decides to use to address the expected vacancy, City Council will need to appoint a new Chair of the Successor Agency that is currently held by City Councilmember Simonian after the expected vacancy occurs on April 5, 2024.

It should also be noted that the City Council can legally conduct Council appointee interviews prior to the expected vacancy occurring on April 5, 2024, if it chooses to do so, but City Council cannot make an appointment until after the City Council seat becomes vacant. Until the vacancy occurs, Councilmember Simonian can legally participate in any interviews that City Council chooses to schedule, but he cannot participate in the actual appointment vote since City Council cannot take that action until Councilmember Simonian has vacated his seat.

 

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Should the City Council choose to appoint an eligible resident to fill the expected vacant seat via an application and interview process, there will be nominal costs associated with advertising the vacancy and potentially some staff costs if Special Meetings are scheduled. Staff does not anticipate the need for any additional funding for these costs.