PORT ANGELES — One of the two candidates running for the City Council position left vacant by former Councilman Max Mania has announced he has applied to fill the position temporarily.
Peter Ripley, an online newsletter publisher and advocate for those with disabilities, said Wednesday he has submitted his application for the position left vacant after Mania announced his resignation Saturday.
“I just feel that I don’t like seeing the council shorthanded,” Ripley said. “If I can help in some way, I’m willing to step up to the plate and do it.”
Applicants for the position likely will be interviewed by the full council in open session before the council’s regular meeting Sept. 3, City Manager Dan McKeen said Wednesday.
Applications are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 21.
Ripley is running against Lee Whetham, a plumber, for Mania’s former spot, City Council Position 2, in the Nov. 5 general election.
Whetham said Wednesday he has not ruled out applying to fill the position temporarily, though he said his focus for the next three months will be his campaign to be elected to the seat.
“At this time, I’m taking it under advisement,” Whetham said.
“I have a campaign to run, so I’m going to give my campaign my forethought the entire next three months.”
Ripley, 52, said he will keep campaigning for the seat whether the council votes to appoint him or not.
This is his fifth campaign for the City Council.
He has arthrogryposis, a congenital joint disorder that makes him unable to walk. He gets around Port Angeles in a small, six-wheeled battery-powered vehicle.
He is on the Clallam County Developmental Disabilities Committee, Clallam County Disability Voter Access Board and is a past member of the state Governor’s Committee for Disability Issues and Employment.
Lone application
City Clerk Janessa Hurd said Ripley’s application was the only one her office had received as of 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Ripley’s announcement comes after City Council members, with no formal vote, directed Hurd on Tuesday to advertise for applicants for appointees 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 begin Monday.
A second legal notice will follow, Hurd added, likely in the Aug. 18 edition of the PDN.
“We will target for the first meeting in September,” City Manager Dan McKeen said at the Tuesday meeting, referring to applicant interviews.
Hurd said any resident inside the city limits interested in applying can turn in applications anytime before the 10-day application process starts.
Applications at website
Applications can be downloaded from the city’s website at http://tinyurl.com/mgo9xyx, completed and emailed with a letter of interest to Hurd at cityclerk@cityofpa.us.
Applications also can be mailed to the city clerk at 321 E. Fifth St., P.O. Box 1150, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
The resignation of Mania, who was elected to the City Council in 2009, was effective immediately after he submitted it, since he has moved out of Clallam County.
State law requires city councils with 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 council, the 90-day deadline would fall Nov. 3.
Mayor Cherie Kidd said at Tuesday night’s meeting that she supported moving to accept applications and interview candidates as soon as possible.
After interviews, council members are expected to vote later on the appointment.
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.
The appointee would serve until the Nov. 6 general election results have been certified Nov. 26.
That person will, among other council duties, delve into next year’s budget.
“The large item that will occur during this time will be getting into the 2014 budget,” McKeen said.
Review next month
He said he anticipates city staff to begin bringing city budget information to council for review in mid- to late September.
McKeen said he does not foresee any major reductions in the budget at this point.
“I would say most if not all the departments came up with expenditure savings over the previous year,” McKeen said.
“At least preliminarily, we won’t have to make the significant reductions we had to last year.”
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
