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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2023-15Sponsored by: City Clerk New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] CITY OF KENAI RESOLUTION NO. 2023-15 A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE CITY COUNCIL SELECTING AND APPOINTING A QUALIFIED PERSON OR PERSONS TO FILL VACANCIES ON THE CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 2021-01 AND RENUMBERING AND RENAMING TO CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 20.220 - FILLING COUNCIL VACANCIES BY APPOINTMENT. WHEREAS, the City Council Selecting and Appointing a Qualified Person or Persons to Fill Vacancies on the City Council Policy No. 2021-01 was adopted on April 7, 2021 through Resolution No. 2021-20; and, WHEREAS, the purpose of the policy was to provide clear procedures when there is a vacancy on the City Council when the vacancy is due to a resignation or for other reasons as prescribed by the Charter or Municipal Code; and, WHEREAS, it is a best practice to review adopted policies on a regular schedule to ensure the policy remains aligned and suited to the needs of the City; and, WHEREAS, the amendments include a purpose and scope section to the policy, and identify that there may be different voting procedures based on the number of candidates; and, WHEREAS, the amendment also reorganize certain paragraphs to flow with the possible order of events. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA: Section 1. That the City Council Selecting and Appointing Qualified Person or Persons to Fill Vacancies on the City Council Policy is hereby renumbered and renamed to City Council Policy No. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment. Section 2. That the City Council Policy No. 20.220 - Filling Vacancies on the City Council by Appointment as amended and attached is hereby adopted. Section 3. That this Resolution takes effect immediately upon passage. PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, THIS 15TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2023. ___________________________________ Brian Gabriel Sr., Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Michelle M. Saner, MMC, City Clerk AMENDED BY SUBSTITUTION MEMORANDUM FROM: Shellie Saner, City Clerk DATE: February 6, 2023 SUBJECT: Resolution No. 2023-15 - Amending the City Council Selecting and Appointing a Qualified Person or Persons to Fill Vacancies on the City Council Policy No. 2021-01 and Renumbering and Renaming to City Council Policy No. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment. Policy No. 2021-01 was adopted in April of 2021 with the intent of capturing the procedures that were recently used to fill a Council Vacancy. The recommended amendments would establish procedure guidelines that may vary depending on the number of applicants for appointment, as well as reordered some of the steps so that they flowed with the possible order of events. Your consideration is appreciated. Page 1 of 3 CITY COUNCIL – 20.220 [2021-01] [SELECTING AND APPOINTING QUALIFIED PERSON OR PERSONS TO FILL VACANCIES ON THE CITY COUNCIL] FILLING COUNCIL VACANCIES BY APPOINTMENT Effective Date: April 7, 2021 Last Approved Date: February 15, 2023 See Also: PRO-20.220; TSK-20.220 Approved by: City Council 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies Page 1 of 3 POLICY – 20.220 - FILLING COUNCIL VACANCIES BY APPOINTMENT Purpose The purpose of this policy is to provide clear procedures when there is a vacancy on the City Council related to declaring a vacancy, advertising a vacancy, conducting interviews and appointment procedures. Scope This policy is intended to insure a fair and transparent process when appointing a person to fill a vacancy on the City Council due to a resignation or for other reasons prescribed by the City of Kenai Charter or Municipal Code. Policy A. Declaring the Seat(s) Vacant 1. The City Council, due to a resignation or for reasons prescribed by Kenai Charter or Kenai Municipal Code, must declare a City Council seat vacant, set a timeframe for advertising the vacancy or vacancies, set a deadline for applications to be submitted, and direct the City Clerk to administer the procedure. B. Advertising and Application Procedures 1. The City Clerk shall advertise the vacancy or vacancies, together with the deadline, at least two (2) times by publication in a newspaper of general circulation, by posting on the official bulletin board of the City at City Hall, and by posting on the City’s website. 2. For consideration, each interested person will be required to submit a letter of interest and their resume by the deadline set by Council. 3. Each applicant’s residency and eligibility to serve on the Council will be confirmed by the City Clerk and the resumes and letters of interest will be included in the Council packets for the work session or meeting set for conducting interviews. 4. The Mayor and the City Clerk will work together to schedule necessary meetings and/or work sessions depending on the number of applications received. 5. Each applicant, in addition to the City Council, will be provided with the packets of the meeting(s) in which the interviews and appointment(s) will take place. C. Conducting Interviews 1. When conducting interviews, each candidate will have five minutes to make a statement and then additional time to answer questions from the Council. D. Appointment Procedures 1. At the Regular or Special Meeting after the interviews are conducted, Appointment of a City Council Member or Members shall appear on the agenda. In the event of the appointment(s) taking place at a Regular Meeting the matter will appear after Unscheduled Public comments and before Public Hearings. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies Page 2 of 3 2. In the event multiple appointments are being made at the same meeting, one appointment will be made at a time. The Mayor will announce which seat is being considered which can be identified by the term expiration of that seat. Any candidates eliminated during the first appointment process may be considered for subsequent appointments in the same application process / meeting. Steps D.2. through D.5. will be completed for each seat. 3. At the Regular or Special Meeting, at the appropriate time on the agenda, the Council will make and pass a motion to begin the voting process by secret ballot. a. In the event there is only one candidate for an open seat, Council may skip all secret ballot voting and make a motion to appoint the candidate. 4. Voting procedures for appointments to City Council when there are more than two (2) candidates are as follows: a. Council Members will be given a ballot and asked to vote for two candidates. The votes will be read out loud and tallied by the Clerk. i. The candidates that receive one or fewer votes will be eliminated and Council Members will again be given a ballot and asked to vote for two of the remaining candidates. 1. In the event the number of Council Members remaining pursuant to Kenai Charter 2-9(a) is such that candidates receiving one vote need to be retained, the elimination of candidates receiving one vote may be disregarded. ii. In order to provide for a fair and transparent process, Council Members will not vote for the same candidate twice on one ballot. Council Members may vote for an individual candidate once, on multiple ballots, until the candidate is eliminated or appointed. This process will take place until there are two candidates remaining. iii. Once two candidates remain for the identified seat, Council Members will be given a ballot and asked to vote for one candidate. The votes will be read aloud and tallied. iv. The outcome will be determined by a simple majority of the remaining Council. If at any time during the voting process there is a tie, and the tie isn’t broken after two votes, the tie shall be broken by lot, as provided in Kenai Municipal Code in the case of a tie in an election. If more than a two-way tie, straws may be drawn to eliminate an appropriate number of candidates and in a two-way tie, a coin may be tossed. 5[A]. In the event there are only two (2) candidates for the open seat, step 4 may be skipped and the voting process can begin with Council Members voting for one candidate in step 6[5]. [B. THE COUNCIL, BY MOTION, COULD DECIDE TO NOT APPOINT ANY CANDIDATES AND START A NEW RECRUITMENT PERIOD OR EXTEND THE EXISTING RECRUITMENT PERIOD. C. IN THE EVENT THE NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS REMAINING PURSUANT TO KENAI CHARTER 2-9(A) IS SUCH THAT CANDIDATES RECEIVING ONE VOTE NEED TO BE RETAINED, THE ELIMINATION OF CANDIDATES RECEIVING ONE VOTE MAY BE DISREGARDED.] 6[5]. Once one of the candidates receives a simple majority of votes, or the outcome is decided by lot, Council will make and pass a motion to appoint that person to fill the vacant seat. 7. The Council, by a 2/3 majority vote of the remaining members, may decide to not appoint any candidates and start a new recruitment period or extend the existing recruitment period. E. Oath and Term 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies Page 3 of 3 1.After the motion(s) to appoint the candidate(s) has passed, the winner(s) will be sworn in and take their seat(s) on the Council immediately. 2.The person(s) appointed serves until the next regular election pursuant to Kenai Charter 2-9. ______________________________________________ Brian Gabriel Sr., Mayor ATTEST: ________________________________________________ Shellie Saner, MMC, City Clerk Policy History: Resolution No. 2021-20; 2023-15