CLEARLAKE >> The Clearlake City Council will discuss plans to replace the vacant council seat at its regular meeting today.
According to City Clerk Melissa Swanson, there are two possibilities to fill the position: keep it vacant until the Nov. 8 general election or have her call for applications and have a candidate appointed by the council in an open meeting — the same process that was used for the planning commission’s vacancy last month.
Normally a special election would be held to fill the seat, but since the state’s Government Code prevents it from occurring within 114 days of its announcement, the soonest one could take place is Election Day.
It also the same time when incumbent Denise Loustalot—who resigned the seat on March 25 — would have ended her first term.
Meanwhile, if the council wants to move quickly, it can appoint someone to the post.
The procedure to do so was outlined in the recently adopted Council Appointment Policy: the city clerk would call for applications, an ad hoc selection committee would be formed to choose the top three candidates to be interviewed publicly by the council and it will make the final choice by majority vote.
The last time the council had to fill a vacant seat was in June 2006, when Curt Giambruno was appointed to serve the last two years of Stephen Markham’s term. Current city Vice Mayor Gina Fortino-Dickson also applied for the spot at the time.
