The Cottonwood City Council discussed the process for filling its vacant seat during its work session Nov. 14.
On Sept. 5, 2023, councilwoman Jackie Nairn resigned from the council. The council subsequently interviewed three candidates during its Oct. 3 meeting: Charissa Faust, Kent Hellman and former Vice Mayor Michael Mathews.
Mayor Tim Elinski moved to appoint Faust, which council members Lisa DuVernay, Stephen DeWillis and Derek Palosaari voted against. Elinski then moved to appoint Hellman, which failed with only Elinski and Vice Mayor Debbie Wilden in favor. Palosaari then moved to appoint Mathews, which failed with council members Helaine Kurot, Elinski and Wilden against. As a result, no candidate was appointed and the seat remained open.
“For the city to move forward, we need to open the position up again,” DuVernay said. She added that if they do not, the council will keep voting with a 3-3 split on everything.
Wilden said that she was willing to try again, but that the next vote could still very well be a 3-3 split. She added that she did not expect every item brought to council to be received with a 3-3 split as DuVernay suggested.
“We’re not doing the city justice by being six,” DeWillis said.
Elinski then asked the council what they thought should be done differently with the application process a second time. Palosaari suggested getting a different batch of applicants and keep doing the process over until the seat is filled. He added that it wasn’t a failure of the council, but a failure of opinion.
Elinski said that while the first round of applicants were all highly qualified, he was not sure if they would be able to get another round of qualified candidates, or if the same applicants would be willing to put themselves out there again.
Wilden commented that with the holidays coming up, there could potentially be fewer applicants willing to apply.
Council directed staff to put out a notice with a tentative deadline of Dec. 2 for applications. On Dec. 11, applications will be reviewed in executive session, and on Dec. 12, a special meeting will be held for interviews. The application will be open to all who qualify, including former applicants.
Applications, letters of interest and resumés may be submitted in person to the City Clerk’s Office located at 824 North Main Street, by emailing tmayes@cottonwoodaz.gov or directly online through the City’s City Council webpage by 11:59 p.m., Saturday, December 2.
The location of the city’s council chambers has also changed. From Nov. 14, council will meet at the meeting space in the Riverfront Water Reclamation Facility located at 1083 E. River Front Road. This new location will allow for a larger space that can accommodate more attendees.
