News : City to Discuss 4th Ward Vacancy at Thursday's Council Meeting

With the passing of the 4th Ward Councilman, Nathan Hesson, the City Council will discuss the options for filling his seat on the council at this week's City Council meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m., the information can be seen here.

There are two options for filling this seat. The council can vote to appoint someone to fill the seat, the term for this person would run only until the next election, November 2, 2021. As we saw with the 2nd Ward appointment, a special election can be requested if the council chooses to go this route. A petition would have to be filed within 14 days after an appointment is made, or a notice published whichever is later. A petition would require 200 eligible signatures or at least 15% of the voters who voted for candidates for office on the ballot at the previous regular election, whichever is fewer. According to the number of votes cast in the 4th Ward in 2019, of which there were 107, 15% would be 16 signatures.

The second option would be for the city to choose to hold a special election to fill the seat. Should this route be chosen, the term would expire on December 31, 2023.

In other business, the council will also be discussing board and commissions vacancies.

At the last City Council meeting, Kim Meyer was reappointed to the Vinton Municipal Electric Utility Board to fill another 6 year term.