Saratoga plans for filling vacancy

Previous suggestions by Councilmember Jon Nelson to wait on an appointment to the vacancy for Saratoga mayor until after the general election appear to have been taken quite literally by Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Keel.

During the September 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Keel had proposed rescheduling the first November meeting of the governing body from November 3 to November 4.

“Looking ahead, the general election is the 3rd of November which is the night of our town council meeting. I would propose that we adjust our town council meeting from November 3 to November 4. This would also give us the ability to, if it was the flavor of the council, to invite those people that won the general election to have a say in the mayoral position,” said Keel. “If we can plan out accordingly, we could also look at getting letters of interest for the town council seat that would become vacant as well.”

Nelson replied that he didn’t have an issue with moving the meeting to November 4 but asked why the issues the mayor pro-tem wanted to address couldn’t be addressed during the regular meeting on November 17. Keel responded by clarifying that his intention to meet the day after the general election centered around adding a 5th person to the council.

“I agreed to wait until after the general election,” Keel said. “If we can plan out and do the meeting on the 4th, we could potentially be asking and doing interviews on the town council meeting on the 17th for a new town councilperson. We know there’s going to be a vacancy, it’s not like it’s not going to be known.”

Keel added that, while he felt that the council was showing they could work together better after each meeting or workshop, there was “still that chance there’s the 2-2 split vote.”

“There’s also a chance your new mayor will come from the two newly elected town councilmen,” replied Councilmember D’Ron Campbell.

“That’s not what you guys agreed to. You guys agreed to fill it after the general election and so that’s why I’m looking at these dates,” said Keel.

“My recollection is we were going to wait to get their input and I don’t remember taking a position or making a commitment that it would be made the day after the election,” said Nelson.

During the August 18 meeting of the governing body, Nelson had originally made the proposal that the Saratoga Town Council wait until after the general election and “meet with them and get their input and that way there’s five people who are all going to be on board for the next two years and everybody will have ownership of it and buy-in of it.”

“So, my proposal is that we wait until ... November 3, and we make the commitment that we’ll meet with the two candidates after that election and we can make the appointment on November 17,” Nelson said. “There’s only eight meetings left before the end of this term, or this year. So that would be waiting ... five more meetings where you have acting mayor authority and will be the presiding officer of the governing body and that we make that decision on November 17.”

It was suggested by Keel at the September 15 meeting by Keel that the two councilmen-elect be brought into an executive session during the November 4 meeting to discuss the mayoral vacancy. The vote to reschedule the first November meeting passed by a unanimous vote.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 7 p.m. on October 6 at Saratoga Town Hall.