Coronado’s new mayor, John Duncan, and two new council members, Amy Steward and Mark Fleming, were sworn into office on Dec. 17 and the new council promptly made a decision to fill the remaining empty seat through appointment rather than a special election.
Once the new mayor and council members were sworn in, there was one issue remaining: an empty seat on the council created by Duncan’s election as mayor. The council will review applications for the new appointment at the Jan. 21 council meeting.
To fill open seats in the past, the city has held special elections since at least 1973, according to the Coronado Election Compendium dating back to 1966.
However, according to Andrea McCullough, the city’s communications officer, the provision in the city code to fill a vacancy in such a way was repealed in 2021. Now, the City Council can select either option — by appointment or special election – within 60 days, or by Feb. 15.
There were only three set dates to hold a special election to choose from: May 6, Aug. 26 and Nov. 4, meaning holding a special election would give the elected council member only around an 18 or 12 month term depending on which date the city decided to choose, and leaving the current council with an even number of members for the next several months.
The price to hold this election would be anywhere between $275,000 and $450,000, according to the staff report.
Faced with those facts, a majority of council members chose to make an appointment after setting up an application process with specific qualifications.
On a 3-1 vote, Duncan, Fleming and Steward favored appointing the new member, while Downey preferred a special election.
The Coronado Municipal Code contains no qualification requirements other than that the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, living in Coronado and registered to vote in Coronado.
Application forms – three pages – will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Jan. 13 for consideration at the Jan. 21 City Council meeting.
Council members will interview applicants at that meeting and can make an appointment the same day if they feel prepared to do so. Under California’s open meetings law the discussion and decision must be public.
The new council
As the year comes to an end, so do the terms of two council members and the mayor.
On Dec. 17, Richard Bailey, after 12 years of service, stepped down as the youngest elected mayor in city history.
Council member Casey Tanaka, after a combined 18 years of service – including two terms as mayor – retired his seat.
Council member Mike Donovan, after serving two consecutive terms on council, has also gave up his seat at the dais.
Sworn in to replace the outgoing council members were their newly elected replacements: Duncan as mayor along with Fleming and Steward on the City Council.
Duncan joined remaining council member Carrie Anne Downey and took the mayoral seat in the middle of the dais, Fleming to the right and Steward to the left.
