Cal City Council to discuss vacancy
CALIFORNIA CITY — The City Council on Tuesday will take up the issue of filling the vacancy left on the Council when Mayor Pro Tem Gene Stump suddenly resigned late last month.
The discussion will include whether to fill the vacancy by appointment or a special election within the 60 day window allowed by state law. Should the majority of the four remaining members agree to it, an appointment could be made that night.
The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 21000 Hacienda Blvd.
Stump, who was elected to office in 2016, resigned via a letter to City Clerk Denise Hilliker on Dec, 27, effective that day.
A replacement Council member will fill the remaining months of his term, to December.
The seat will be open for the November election as scheduled, and the person who has served in the interim will be eligible to run for a full term.
Historically, the Council has chosen appointment to fill a vacancy, as special elections are quite costly, an estimated $25,000 to $50,000, according to the last time the Council considered the issue in July.
The Council has complete discretion on how an appointment to fill the vacancy is made, City Attorney Christian Bettenhausen said in the staff report.
Past appointments have involved everything from interviewing candidates during a public meeting to appointing the candidate who received the next-highest number of votes during
the election.
Once a decision is made on how to make an appointment, should the Council chose that route, the appointed person requires approval by a majority of the four seated members.
In addition to determining how to fill the vacancy, the Council will also fill the now-vacant post of mayor pro tem, who essentially serves as a vice mayor.
As per the municipal code, Councilmember Donald Parris will take the position, as the most senior member who has not yet served as mayor pro tem.
Parris will serve in the role until December, when the two-year term of Mayor Chuck McGuire and his own Council seat expire.
In his resignation letter, Stump said that while “serving the people of our great city has been one of the highlights of my life,” he retired in September “with the intention of relocating out of state in 2020.”
“I believe this is the best time for my family and me to begin the next chapter of our lives,” he said in the letter.
This is the second Council resignation in a year. Councilmember Tami Johnson resigned on June 25 due to medical reasons. She had been elected in November 2018.
In that instance, the Council agreed to appoint a replacement. Councilmember Ron Smith, pastor and founder of Victory Baptist Church, was appointed during a special meeting on July 20.
Smith was interviewed during open session with four of the other five applicants for the seat; one was absent.
He was appointed on a 3-1 vote, with McGuire dissenting.