Councilwoman Wearne resigns from city council

With two years left on her term, Councilwoman Gretchen Wearne has resigned from the council. At the Nov. 28 city council meeting, the council discussed the process for appointing someone to the council replace Wearne. 

“We have done this a couple of times in recent years. We wanted to go over the process with the council so the council understands the process,” said Mayor Cheri Kelley Farivar. 

City Administrator Joel Walinski said one of the most important things to do is set a deadline date to receive letters of interest. He felt Dec. 8 might be too soon. 

After that, the city asks those interested to submit an application. 

“The council has submitted and put together questions. We would include those include those in the application,” Walinski said. “The council reviews those applications and they hold interviews with the candidates. Then, an executive session on the candidates and open debates. There is a process for votes. We don’t have to decide that tonight, but what we do need to know is the schedule of dates.”

Walinski said the council might want to develop an application which includes questions and letters of interest. 

“Have a deadline, so when they submit a letter of interest, they also submit an application with those questions already completed,” Walinski said. “Give them a date of say Dec. 15 or 20. Give the council over the Christmas time to review those letters, then schedule an interview date some time in early January.”

Councilwoman Mia Bretz asked if the goal was to select someone before the Jan. 9, 2018 meeting. 

“Not necessarily. This is a decision the council gets to make tonight. This is important but not necessarily urgent in that regard. We have 90 days to fill the seat. I would hate to see us take 90 days, but I don’t want to see jam everything into too small of a time frame and not get the applications,” Farivar said. 

Councilman Elmer Larsen said the city needs to get the word out. 

“We’ll put it on the radio, on our website, on Facebook and we’ll ask the Echo to put that out. This particular season, we don’t have two meetings in December. I don’t know about you, but my focus is certainly not about city business the last couple weeks of December,” Farivar said. “To extend that out another week or two is perfectly acceptable. Maybe we should consider doing that, potentially to the end of the month. That is up to council.”

So the applications would be due Dec. 31, Councilwoman Margaret Neighbors asked. 

“That is perfectly acceptable. I don’t think having a council vacancy, one of seven, for a few weeks into January is not a real problem. We’ve had a council vacancy before and taken adequate time to make sure we hear from anyone who has the interest,” Farivar said. 

There are too many distractions at the end of the year, Larsen said. He felt the second meeting in January would be a worthwhile target for appointing a new council person. 

There could be a special session in January for interviews, Larsen said. Farivar said it would depend on the number of applicants. 

“We don’t have to set that date yet. What we could do is say, that Jan. 9 meeting you can set your interview date,” Walinski said. 

That makes good sense, Farivar said. 

“We would also know how many applicants. That would give council between Jan. 1 and Jan. 9 to look over the applications,” Farivar said. 

Bretz wondered if there was just one applicant, then could the council appoint at the council meeting. Farivar said it has been many years since there was just one applicant. 

“We tend to get more applicants a vacancy of this nature than we get during the election process. Most people don’t want to go through the election process,” Larsen said. 

Councilman Clint Strand asked if there were a lot of candidates, does council interview each one?

“It can be a shorter interview process. It is a council decision. If we have 12 or 15, we would interview all of them. It is part of our process. We may end up having two meetings,” Farivar said. 

“We could change our mind if we had a multitude of candidates or if we had just one.”

The letter of interest and application would be due at the end of the year, prior to the Jan. 9 meeting. At that time, the council would make a decision if there were a lot of candidates or a few. 

Councilwoman Sharon Waters asked if the council reviews the letters of interest together. Farivar said it would be emailed to each council member. Walinski said it would also be posted on the city website. 

“Here’s the Open Meetings Act caution. The only communication you can have is from staff to you. Individual council members do not have cross conversations about those materials. That could be a violation of the Open Meetings Act,” said City Attorney Thom Graafstra. 

Waters asked if the council can talk to the public about it. 

“The public can talk to individual council members. Council members cannot talk amongst themselves,” Graafstra said. 

Waters noted that candidates are allowed to sit in the audiences while other candidates are being interviewed. She said that was not the case when she applied to council. 

“We asked you to be courteous so you don’t hear what other people are saying as answers, then piggyback on their answers. Legally, they can stay in this room,” said City Finance Director Chantell Steiner. 

Fariver said both the letter of interest and the application are due at the end of the year. 

“My fear is we’re going to miss someone who might inquire. If somebody is interested, how do they get the application? Is everything posted on the website?,” Farivar said. 

The candidates send in the letters of interest, the applications will be available on the city website, Walinski said. 

“Since we’re changing the process.. we’ve also asked for the letter of intent first, then we provide them with the application. I don’t want any confusion to occur for a potential candidate,” Farivar said. 

Steiner said if they get a letter of interest without the application, they will call the candidate. 

It was noted Dec. 31 is a Sunday, so the council decided to set the deadline at the end of business on Friday, Dec. 29.  

“This has been a confusing process. We have had an instance where we had a great candidate  who didn’t get the application in in time. I really want to be clear to the public and all interested parties,” Farivar said. “Filling the vacancy, there are two things every candidate must have. They must 18 years of age and must reside within city limits and be a registered voter. Must have resided in the city for at least one year.” 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.