During its Tuesday, Oct. 3 meeting, the Cottonwood City Council interviewed and rejected all three applicants for the vacant seat on the council.
On Sept. 5, Councilwoman Jackie Nairn submitted her formal resignation from the council effective as of that evening. At the following meeting on Sept. 19, the council accepted her resignation, declared the seat open and established an expedited process for filling the vacancy.
The council received 10 applications and selected three of those candidates to interview on Oct. 3: Charissa Faust, Kent Hellman and Michael Mathews.
- Faust oversees a youth mentorship program and works at Applejacks’ Ranch as a prevention specialist.
- Hellman was an original board member for the city’s first Board of Adjustment and volunteers for the Camp Verde Community Library.
- Mathews previously served on the Cottonwood City Council from 2018 to 2022 and volunteered with Verde Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Three other former councilmen also applied but were not selected for interviews.
After interviewing all three candidates, the council went into executive session. After reconvening, Mayor Tim Elinski moved to appoint Faust; the motion failed 3-3, with Elinski, Vice Mayor Debbie Wilden and Councilwoman Helaine Kurot in favor, and council members Lisa DuVernay, Stephen DeWillis and Derek Palosaari opposed.
Elinski then moved to appoint Hellman, which failed 2-4 with Elinski and Wilden in favor.
Palosaari next moved to appoint Mathews, which failed 3-3 with himself, DuVernary and DeWillis in favor and Elinski, Wilden and Kurot opposed.
As ties fail, no candidate was appointed to fill in the vacant seat.
Planning & Zoning
The council also considered an application by Michael DuVernay, husband of Councilwoman Lisa DuVernay, for a seat on the Planning & Zoning Commission. Elinski pulled the item from the consent agenda to discuss with council, pointing out that there might be a conflict of interest with spouses on both the council and commission.
Councilwoman DuVernay said that if there was a concern with a conflict of interest, then it should have been addressed months ago at the beginning of the application process.
Michael DuVernay’s appointment had been recommended following interviews and a blind review process.
Palosaari moved to appoint DuVernay to the commission, seconded by DeWillis. The motion passed 4-2, with Elinski and Wilden dissenting.
After a discussion about conflicts of interest, DuVernay did not recuse herself from voting on appointing her husband to the commission.
