The Imperial Beach City Council swore in Mitch McKay as the city’s new mayor at an Aug. 20 meeting, and his empty council seat will now be filled through an appointment and application process.
The string of vacancies on Imperial Beach’s council started when Paloma Aguirre, the former mayor, was elected as the District 1 San Diego County supervisor. Following a majority vote, the City Council appointed then Council member McKay to fill the vacancy through November 2026.
This move left the District 3 council seat open.
On Aug. 20, the council debated between beginning an appointment process or calling a special election to fill the spot. A special election in these circumstances was estimated to cost between $125,000 to $250,000.
A motion was passed to direct staff to begin preparations to fill the District 3 vacancy by appointment and application process.
To be eligible for the District 3 council seat applicants must be registered as a voter in the City of Imperial Beach, reside within District 3, be 18 years of age or older, and have not been convicted of a felony “involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes.”
The deadline to submit an application is Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. Applications are to be submitted in person to the City Clerk’s Department of City Hall and will require prospective applicants to bring a form of identification.
On Sept. 4, the city will hold a candidate information forum. Qualified candidates will be required to attend the regular City Council meeting, taking place on Sept. 17. During this meeting applicants will be interviewed by the City Council. Based on the outcome of these interviews, the council will make an appointment that night or schedule a second round of interviews.
For more information check out the imperialbeach.gov.
