Sep 1 2017

Who Will the Council Select to Fill the Vacant Council Position Resulting from Wieler Resignation?

The Council has 30 days from September 5 to select someone to fill the vacant Council seat left by Wieler’s resignation.

Effective September 5, 2017, Jeff Wieler resigned as a Piedmont Councilmember.  Now, the City Council has the task of filling his vacant seat – unexpired term – that ends in November/December 2018.

The Council has 30 days in which to complete the task of filling the vacant unexpired term held by Wieler.  The agenda for the September 5, 2017 Council meeting does not include consideration of a process for selecting the replacement Council member.  According to the City Administrator, Paul Benoit, the Council may hold a Special Meeting to consider the selection process.

Those interested in applying for the unexpired seat can make inquiry with the City at 420-3040. 

Historically, the Council has asked for applications which must be from qualified electors of Piedmont – those who are registered Piedmont voters. In previous years, applicants submitted a standardized written application followed by an interview session held by the remaining four Councilmembers. By law, all applications and interviews are open to the public.

As the Councilmember selection is political, applicants frequently lobby the public and the Council.

Throughout the process, Councilmembers must follow the Brown Act (California’s sunshine law) by conducting all considerations and discussions of the applicants in a public meeting.  Councilmembers may not discuss privately amongst themselves who they think should be appointed.

When former Mayor and Councilmember, Margaret Fujioka, resigned her unexpired position on the Council, Jonathan Levine was chosen from amongst the applicants.  He subsequently ran for a regular four year term on the Council; however he did not win in that election.

The Council chosen appointee to the Council will serve until December 2018, when the unexpired term ends.  To continue to serve on the Council, the appointed individual must be elected at the November 2018 General Election.

The process of filling a vacancy is set out in the Piedmont City Charter as follows:

(C) FILLING OF VACANCIES. A vacancy on the City Council shall be filled by appointment by the Council, with said appointee to hold office until the next general municipal election, when a successor shall be chosen by the electors for the unexpired term. If the Council does not fill such vacancy within thirty (30) days after the same occurs, then such vacancy shall be filled by the Mayor. 

Questions may be posed to the City Administrator, Paul Benoit, at 510/420-3040.

The public can provide input to the Council by using the following contact information.

Councilmember contact information:

Robert McBain, Acting Mayor rmcbain@ci.piedmont.ca.us (510) 547-0597 2nd Term Exp. 11/20
Jennifer Cavenaugh jcavenaugh@ci.piedmont.ca.us (510) 428-1442 1st Term Exp. 11/20
Teddy Gray King tking@ci.piedmont.ca.us (510) 450-0890 1st Term Exp. 11/18
Tim Rood trood@ci.piedmont.ca.us (510) 239-7663 1st Term Exp. 11/18

 

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