MILTON — City officials need to fill a vacant council seat due to Councilman Lloyd Hinote’s death.
They have scheduled a special meeting for 5 p.m. Nov. 29 at city hall to appoint a new member.
Under city charter and state statutes, the council has 30 days following a vacancy to appoint a new council member, city attorney Heather Lindsay said. The 30th day — in this case Dec. 13 — the council will have its regular meeting and new members will be sworn in.
Lindsay said she recommended scheduling the special meeting to address the appointment before the 30th day.
Newly elected Councilman Jeff Snow questioned whether the current council should handle the appointment process or have the newly elected council take action on the issue.
“The new council will be seated within the 30 days of what the charter states. The voters have spoken … and I think it would look better that the new council make the vote,” Snow said.
Lindsay said she did not recommend this duty for the current council out of disrespect for newly elected members.
“My recommendation was based on logistics,” she said. “How can they, on the 30th day, be expected to be sat for the first time and figure it out that day?”
If council members don’t appoint someone within the 30 days, they lose the power to name a replacement.
“If the sitting council does not act within the 30 days, then the governor has the exclusive authority to do the appointment,” Lindsay said.
Interested residents who have lived in Ward IV for one year have until 4:30 p.m. Nov. 22 to submit their application to the city clerk’s office. See a map of city wards at http://bit.ly/2g0GqDK. They also should attend the Nov. 29 meeting.
Snow questioned whether the public would have enough notice to apply before the deadline.
“(The new council) will be in office within that 30 days, so we can make the same decision to appoint,” Snow said. “It gives a longer process for the notifications to go out for whoever would like the position and it gives the city clerk a lot more time to go through them to validate.”
Councilman Alan Lowery cast the lone dissenting vote to schedule the special meeting.
Applicants can submit a letter of intent, their resume and a completed application to citymanager@mymiltonflorida.com for details.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Applicants sought for vacant council seat