In response to my blog post on filling a council vacancy, some folks are questioning the rationale for involvement of the Democratic City Committtee, citing language in the charter that places the responsibility solely on the City Council:
2.4 Vacancies
A vacancy in the office of councilman occurring during a term shall be filled by election at the next general election to be held not less then 60 days after the occurrence of the vacancy. The council shall forthwith fill the vacancy temporarily by appointment of a qualified person to serve until the qualification of the person so elected. A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall have the qualifications required of the previous incumbent and shall be a member of the same political party as such prior incumbent. In the event the council fails to fill the vacancy within 60 days following its occurrence the mayor shall forthwith appoint a qualified person to serve as above.
City Clerk Laddie Wyatt tells me there is statutory language that sets forth the process as I noted it. If I can get the citations, I will put them on the blog. (Update: I changed my mind and I am not going to research this. You are on your own.)
The last time the process was invoked was when Councilman Rayland Van Blake resigned before the end of his council term, but before taking office as a Union County freeholder. As I recall, three names were offered by the Democratic City Committee and the council selected William Reid as appointee. Objectors are saying the charter does not require anything more than direct council action.
Stay tuned. (Never mind.)
--Bernice
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Bernice, Can you explain this statutory language point? Does this mean that statutory language supercedes the charter? Is this city, county or state language? What is the point of having the language in the charter if it doesn't matter? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteTo 11:22 a.m.: I believe there are times when state law takes precedence but I am not going to say any more than I have. Believe what you want and some day we shall see an outcome.
ReplyDeleteBernice, I understand we citizens should take some responsibility for understanding local governance but that's no reason to become somewhat curt over the matter. I know that wasn't your intention at all. I'm one of your biggest fans so I'm just looking out for you. Keep up the excellent work! We really appreciate you and all that you do.
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