REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Oliver Chi, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Travis K. Hopkins, Assistant City Manager
Subject:
title
Filling an unscheduled vacancy on the City Council
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Statement of Issue:
On June 1, 2021, Mayor Pro Tem Jacob "Tito" Ortiz abandoned and resigned his City Council seat. Pursuant to Section 312 of the Huntington Beach Charter, unscheduled vacancies on the City Council are to be filled by an appointment of the City Council within 60 days. Further, the Charter stipulates that if the City Council fails to fill the vacancy within that specified timeframe, a special election must then be held to fill the vacated role.
Financial Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with appointing a candidate to fill the current vacant City Council seat. However, if the City Council fails to reach consensus on an individual to appoint to the abandoned City Council seat, the subsequent Special Election will cost an estimated $885K - $1M.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Select a candidate for appointment to the vacated City Council seat.
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Alternative Action(s):
Provide direction to hold a Special Election to fill the vacant City Council seat.
Analysis:
A Special Meeting of the City Council was held on June 10, 2021 to consider the vacancy, at which time the City Council directed that an appointment process be coordinated to include an application period, introductory interviews with eligible applicants, and a final deliberation to identify an individual to fill the vacant City Council seat.
Pursuant to that direction, applications were accepted from June 11, 2021, through June 18, 2021. Subsequently, a Special City Council Meeting was held on July 9 - 10, 2021, for the introductory candidate interviews. During the overall assessment process, applications received were as follows:
* 190 applications were received prior to the close of the application process...
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