EDITOR’S NOTE — This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Lee Whetham, Nov. 5 election candidate for the Port Angeles City Council seat that had been held by Max Mania.
PORT ANGELES — City Council members may interview candidates to temporarily fill the council position left vacant by Max Mania as early as their first meeting next month, on Sept. 3.
With no formal vote, council members Tuesday night directed City Clerk Janessa Hurd to advertise for applicants that would be considered for appointment to Mania’s vacant council seat.
A legal notice is slated for this Sunday’s edition of the Peninsula Daily News.
Hurd said the application period for the position, open for 10 days, will start Monday.
A second legal notice will follow, Hurd added, likely in the Sunday, Aug. 18, edition of the PDN.
“We will target for the first meeting in September,” City Manager Dan McKeen said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, referring to when applicants would be interviewed by the full council in an open session.
Hurd said any resident inside the city limits can turn in an application anytime before the 10-day process starts.
An application will be posted at the city’s website at http://tinyurl.com/mgo9xyx. After it is downloaded and completed it can emailed to Hurd at cityclerk@cityofpa.us.
Mania, elected to the City Council in 2009, submitted his letter of resignation to McKeen on Saturday.
The resignation was effectively immediately, Mania wrote, since he has moved out of Clallam County. He had earlier decided not to seek re-election to a second four-year term.
City Council members are required to live within the Port Angeles city limits. His term expires on Dec. 31. With Mania’s resignation, there are now six City Council members.
[Mania’s resignation letter and additional details can be accessed here: https://giftsnap.shop/article/20130806/NEWS/308069990 .]
State law requires city councils with at least one vacancy to vote to appoint someone to the empty spot within 90 days of the beginning of the vacancy.
In the case of the Port Angeles City Council, the 90-day deadline would fall on Nov. 3.
The general election for the two candidates vying for the seat is Nov. 5. They are Peter Ripley, an advocate for the disabled and online newsletter publisher, and Lee Whetham, a plumber.
“We have an unusual time frame here,” Mayor Cherie Kidd said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, adding that she supported moving to accept applications and interview candidates as soon as possible.
Once the application process closes, City Council members will interview applicants during an open meeting session and later vote to appoint someone to fill the vacant seat, also in a open session.
City Attorney Bill Bloor said council members may go into an executive session, closed to the public, to deliberate on the merits of the candidates before they vote in open session, but they do not have to.
Once someone to is appointed to the vacant council seat, he or she will serve until Nov. 26, when the Nov. 6 general election is certified; immediately after the certification, the person elected, Ripley or Whetham, will take office.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
