TITLE
The City Council shall discuss and possibly take action on selecting a method by which to fill the vacancy on the City Council. Discussion and Action.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
On March 17, 2014, Councilmember Leon Potter resigned his position as Councilmember of the City of Maricopa effective immediately. Section 2-13 of the Maricopa City Code states, in part, that the council shall fill any vacancy in council by appointment until the next regularly scheduled council election if the vacancy occurs more than thirty (30) days before the nomination petition deadline. It also states that the councilmember appointed shall be a qualified elector in the city and shall meet the qualifications set forth in Section 2-51 of this Code, which states in part that all candidates for elected office in the city shall be qualified electors of the city and that candidates shall have resided in the city for at least one year preceding the election in which he is running.
Because Councilmember Potter's term didn't expire until 2016, this seat will need to be placed on the August 26, 2014 Primary Election ballot. It will be a seat for a two year term expiring in 2016. Whomever the council appoints to fill this vacancy will serve until the first regular council meeting in December at which time the newly elected members will take office.
In 2012, this council, had a vacancy on the council also due to a resignation. At that time, the council chose to fill the vacancy by recruiting for a period of two weeks. After the recruitment closed, the council held a special meeting in which to interview their top candidates. During that special meeting, each council member chose their top three applicants to interview which resulted in interviewing eight of the sixteen applicants. The council went on to interview the eight candidates by taking turns asking the following questions that council had previously chosen to be asked of each candidate:
1. Although fully entitled to your own thoughts and opinions on where and how the City should move forward, you are also part of a seven member team, which must work together regardless of these differences of opinion to accomplish the greater good of serving ALL of our 45,000 residents. Considering this statement, our limited resources, our available options, and the overall big picture; where and what do you think this Council is trying to to accomplish and how would you be an effective part of that team?
2. In order to be an efficient and effective City Councilmember, one must have a very clear understanding of what it means to operate within the legal parameters set by Federal and State laws, as well as our City Code. Please explain what it means to operate within the legal parameters set by Federal and State laws, as well as our City Code. Please explain how you, as a Councilmember, will "balance operations and communications" in our "City Council/City Manager" form of government?
3. The City's "Strategic Plan" has five key priorities to achieve all at once, including Economic Sustainability; Quality of Life Transportation; Public Safety; and Quality Municipal Services. If you had to pick just one of those priorities to focus on exclusively, which one would you select and why?
4. What are the three main obstacles that you see the City facing today?
5. If you do have a desire to be a City Councilmember, why didn't you run for a seat in the election that was just six months ago? Given that we has a City Council meeting election for three seats a few months ago, why did you not submit a packet to run for office then?
6. Describe a time you had to deal with a difficult situation, including how you dealt with it and the outcome.
7. How do you determine or evaluate success and what do you think it would take to make the city successful?
8. If you are selected as the new interim-Councilmember, how much time do you plan to dedicate to this position?
9. What do you believe are the two most critical decisions the City Council had to make over the past year?
10. Describe a leadership role (present or past) you had at work (or volunteer, school, church, civic or other activities) which demonstrates the qualities you would bring to City leadership. Provide an example of how your specific leadership in that role made a difference in addressing or resolving a particularly challenging matter or issue.
11. What does being a leader mean to you?
12. Excluding yourself...of the remaining applicants/candidates for the Councilmember; who would YOU appoint and why?
Upon completion of the interviews, the council cast their vote for their top candidate. The candidate was appointed and later sworn in.
Attached is the application that council used to recuit in 2012.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council direct staff on the appointment process to fill the vacancy on the Maricopa City Council.