HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo- Process Council Member Vacancy g
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Oshkosh
TO: Mayor and Members of the Common Council
FROM: Lynn A. Lorenson, City Attorney
DATE: May 2, 2019
RE: Process for Council Member Vacancy
Several of you had questions regarding the process for filling the vacant council seat. Staff has
been following the process used previously by prior councils. That process consisted of
soliciting applications, forwarding application materials of all applicants to Council in the
Council Agenda packet the Friday prior to the Council meeting, and Council receiving
presentations from applicants (with questions as desired by Council) at the public Council
meeting, followed by Council action to appoint.
The ordinance adopted by Council in 2015 provides 30 days for applicants to express interest in
the council seat and includes language relating to submittal of an application as well as the
ability to make a presentation before the council at the council meeting. There is also reference
to completed applications including a letter of interest and current resume. Prior councils have
accepted the completed application form as a completed application and have not required
applicants to submit a separate letter of interest and resume in addition to the application form,
treating the form as essentially the equivalent of a resume and letter of interest. The notice
advertising the opening did not specify that applicants were required to submit 3 separate items
for consideration for that reason. The Council has not previously rejected any applicant for
failure to provide a resume and/or cover letter.
The council in this case received a request for the opportunity to make a video presentation in
lieu of the live presentation before council and determined at the last council meeting to permit
applicants who are unable to be present at the regular meeting to be able to submit a short video
presentation to be played at the council meeting. This change prompted council to also ask for
the opportunity to provide questions for applicants not able to be present at the meeting.
City Hall,215 Church Avenue P.O.Box 1130 Oshkosh,WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
In order to facilitate this council's desire to ask questions of an applicant who is not present at
the meeting, staff met and on Thursday, April 25, 2019 provided a timetable and outline for
accommodating that request while still recognizing the need to keep the process orderly,
transparent and in compliance with the open meetings and other laws.
Choosing someone to fill a vacant seat on the governing body is a significant decision and one
that would appear to call for a significant level of public transparency and need for orderliness
and fairness throughout the process.
To that end, in order to protect the integrity of the process and provide a fair opportunity for all
applicants, applications are being held confidentially by the City Clerk until the deadline for all
applications has passed. While the applications are public records and there may be an
argument for their release, there is also a strong argument that releasing applications prior to
the application deadline would provide the opportunity for later applicants to study earlier
applications providing them with a significant advantage if applications were to be released on
an as filed basis. This is consistent with statutes related to public employees whose information
is not released unless they are deemed a finalist for a position. In this case, everyone who
submits an application will be treated as a"finalist" and the applications will be made available
to everyone once the deadline has passed. By waiting until the deadline there is no advantage
or disadvantage to be gained by early or later submissions.
Similarly, to protect the integrity of the process, staff proposed deadlines for gathering the
answers to the council questions for applicants intending to make a video presentation. While
again there is probably no perfect solution to the desire to allow applicants who are not present
at the meeting the opportunity to answer questions if the council wishes to afford applicants the
opportunity to answer questions; the process of using written questions to the applicants with
a deadline for their submission provides consistency and transparency to the process as
applicants are answering the same questions for all council members one time and the answers
are in writing and available for the council and the public to view. This proposed process also
avoids the appearance of council and applicants speaking privately and the potential for open
meetings concerns similar to walking quorums as applicants speak with multiple council
members.
For Monday's meeting discussing the process for selection, staff developed the following outline
based on the processes used for filling council seats and the Deputy Mayor position in the past
as a starting point for the Council's discussion:
• Applicants make a brief presentation with questions and answers to Council (video
presentations also played at this time)
• Public Comments
• Council Discussion
City Hall,215 Church Avenue P.O.Box 1 130 Oshkosh,WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us
• Selection Procedure-
o Mayor will solicit nominations from the applicant pool
o Motion to close nominations/second/vote to close nominations
o City Clerk will poll council members who shall respond with the name of the
applicant that they are casting their vote for
o Successful applicant must receive a majority vote-four (4) votes are required
o If there are more than two nominations, a first ballot will be taken. If no one
receives a majority (4 votes), all but the top two nominees will be eliminated and
a second vote will be taken on the two remaining nominees.
o In the event of a tie or other failure to obtain a majority (4 votes), council may
decide to re-vote or to re-start the nomination process.
City Hall,215 Church Avenue P.O.Box 1130 Oshkosh,WI 54903-1130 920.236.5000 http://www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us