Charter guides path to filling seat

by Steve Bromberg

If you have been following local news, you have heard that Councilman

Gary Proctor has submitted his resignation, which becomes effective

Tuesday. In doing some research, I learned that the City Council

actually filled two interim council positions: One in the late 1950’s

or early 1960’s and in one in 1978, due to a resignation and a death

respectively. I thought the replacement process might be of interest

to you.

Newport Beach is a charter city. This means that we, as a city,

are governed by a charter that was voted on by the residents and

which became law quite some time ago. The charter covers just about

every issue imaginable, including the structure of the City Council,

and pretty much dictates how the city is to be run. It is quite a

significant document, and if you are interested, copies are available

at City Hall, as well as on the city’s Web site.

The process and procedure to fill an unexpected vacancy of a

council position is stated in Section 403 of our charter. It states

in part: “A vacancy in the City Council, from whatever cause arising,

shall be filled by appointment by the City Council of a qualified

person from the district in which the vacancy has occurred.”

The controlling language in this portion of Section 403 is the

words “shall be filled by appointment.” As a matter of law, the

requirement that we appoint is mandatory and not discretionary.

Section 403 then goes on to state that in the event we fail to fill

the vacancy by appointment, that is, if we do not appoint as required

within 30 days after the office is declared vacant , then the city

shall hold an election to fill that vacancy.

We do not have the option of either appointing or holding an

election. An election would take place if we do not fulfill our

responsibility to appoint. A couple of examples of when this might

come into play would be if at least four of the six council members

cannot agree on a replacement or, if for some reason, we do not make

an appointment by the 30-day deadline. This could occur if we

determine there are no acceptable applicants -- although that seems

unlikely.

At the City Council meeting last Tuesday, we as a council

recognized our responsibilities under the Charter and as a result,

have set forth the procedure to appoint. Any registered voter who has

lived in District 2 for at least 30 days can obtain an application

either online or from the clerk’s office, which can be reached at

(949) 644-3005. We will receive applications until noon Oct. 9. By

the Oct. 14 council meeting, we will know exactly how many residents

applied. At the Oct. 14 council meeting, the council will set

parameters regarding the interviewing process. I anticipate that the

full council will interview the applicants publicly, and we expect

the proceedings to be televised.

At this point in time, I have no idea how many people will apply.

Keeping in mind that an appointment must be made within 30 days from

Tuesday, we may modify the interview process. Again, this will all be

determined on Oct. 14. In the event we are unable to agree on an

acceptable applicant, then the issue would go to an election. The

cost of such an election would be $50,000 to $75,000 and by the time

the election has concluded, there would be six months left in the

term.

Once the District 2 seat has been filled, that person will serve

until the next municipal election, which is Nov. 2, 2004, and which,

by coincidence, would be the time that Proctor’s first term will have

expired.

I must admit, there clearly were a number of wise leaders when our

charter was first written. Although many years have passed, and the

charter has been amended on numerous occasions, the “nuts and bolts”

should work just fine. The procedure set forth in the charter saves

the taxpayers money by not requiring an election unless we do not do

our job. The charter also requires that we appoint quickly, and this

of course permits the City Council to move forward with city business

with minimal interruption and to be sure that District 2 is properly

represented as soon as possible.

Stay tuned, as we are adding a bit of history with this process.

* STEVE BROMBERG is the mayor of Newport Beach.