The Martinez City Council provided direction to staff to open an application process to fill a vacant District 3 seat on the City Council.
District 3 became vacant when Mayor Brianne Zorn was elected and sworn in at a special session of the City Council on Wednesday, December 7. The City has 60 days to fill the vacancy through an appointment process. Whomever gets appointed will serve until December 2024, which is the remaining two years left on the term.
The City has officially opened the application as of December 12th, and it will remain open until Wednesday, January 4 at 5:00 p.m. Since District 3 boundaries were changed in 2022 through the redistricting process, current residents of both the former District 3 and the new District 3 are eligible to apply.
If you would like to apply for the vacant seat, you can obtain an application on the City website or pick up an application from the City Clerk’s Office located at City Hall, 525 Henrietta Street, Martinez, CA 94553.
You must make an appointment with the City Clerk’s Office to submit your application. To schedule an appointment please call (925) 372-3512 or email [email protected].
Staff Report: Proposed Timeline and decision points:
- December 8th -21st : Duration of application window (Changed by Council to Dec. 12, 2022 – Jan 4, 2023)
- December 21st: Reading of names of applicants during regular Council meeting (Changed by Council to Jan 4, 2023)
- Nomination Paper (Attachment 1) or Application Form preference
o Posted on City website similar to candidate statements?
o Signatures of support required? - Wednesday, January 11th at 7 p.m. – Candidate(s) attendance at Special City Council appointment meeting, and Council appointment
- January 18: Swearing in of newly appointed Council member at beginning regular Council meeting
December 7 Council Discussion
On Dec. 7, Martinez Mayor Brianne Zorn sworn into office
City staff said by January 18 the process would allow them to fill the vacant seat and allow them to participate in some upcoming crucial meetings along with subcommittee items coming up. They called January a busy month.
Members of the public called for the city to be as transparent as public and not to meet with applicants in private and have all meetings open to the public. Others called for outreach to all residents since this was a decision not made by voters, but rather the council. Another member of the public called them to look into cost of a special election given they were now in districts and the cost is cheaper.
Cost of a special election: staff did math at an estimated $8-12 per voter and 6,000 voters, the top of the range would be $72,000. Staff also said District 3 would be under the old map.
Election Date: Staff stated the election would have to occur at the next general election which would be in June leaving the council seat vacant for approximately 6-months.
Mayor Brianne Zorn listed her concerns but heard the public but was in favor of transparency and not waiting until June 2023.
“I was originally not excited about the special election and concerned about the money, the time, the person having to campaign and now that I hear about the time delay as well, that just compounds all of my concerns about that but I hear everyone in the room and on the call about transparency wanting to make sure whoever does apply for this position would be interviewed in public and the decision would be made in public,” said Zorn. “I am supportive of all of those transparent steps in the process, but I am still leaning towards an appointment even though I hear the public’s concern.”
Councilmember Jay Howard stated he was under the assumption the cost for a special election would be $250k but at $72k it was a different situation.
“I am a little more open minded to the election. I think that is the fairest way to do it, but that is a long time out, so that does concern me leaving us with just the four council people. I am still up in the air” said Howard.
Councilmember Mark Ross said he titled to an appointment process because a special election would be nearly 7-months.
Councilmember Debbie McKillop explained this council and past councils have always been criticized for transparency with people believing in backdoor political deals which she denied were occurring.
“In order to really dispel any of these concerns about that we are acting in the ultimately the best conscious and ethically and considering all aspects, I think a special election should be called and the people can have the opportunity to vote you in as a councilmember,” stated McKillop. “It would allow the same people who voted you in (as mayor) would vote on your replacement.”
McKillop admitted she was concerned over the timeline of June and but wanted more transparency and place it in the hands of the voters. She urged the council not to give the public a reason to be critical of the council in an appointment process.
Ross stated there were good arguments on both sides but waiting until June giving District 3 no representation for a half a year and it would be a quarter of the council term they are talking about.
“At some point, we are going to take criticism, its part of the job,” said Ross. “The best way to make a compromise is to be as open and transparent as possible. We are not seeing a rush to the ballot unless you want to be mayor in these district elections.”
Ross called on a strong notification process with a transparent process where they can find the two or three people who are really going to be interesting. He believed the council could figure it out.
McKillop argued the timeline of Dec. 8-21 was a tight timeline and that if the city couldn’t even communicate with toxic fallout that is occurring across the city, could they be that efficient to cast a net to people who could be interested in applying during a time when people were focused on Christmas.
“The timeline just seems very narrow at a time during the holidays and people not paying attention or out Christmas shopping or traveling,” said McKillop. “It’s a very tight timeline.”
She also said with an appointment, there could be many candidates who apply versus running for an election—that they didn’t have a crystal ball on number of candidates.
Staff said they could extend the application period until January 4, 2023. Staff said council needed to decide if they would upload candidate applications as they go, or wait until the deadline and that the December 21 deadline was to ensure the public had time to look at it over the holidays—with a long period before the interview process.
Staff further highlighted if they made an appointment, it would have to occur no later than February 6 which gives them an extra two weeks if needed.
Council opted for a 5:00 pm deadline on Jan 4, 2023 deadline for applicants to turn in their applications. The items would then be uploaded to the city website the next day. The public interview process would be on January 11, 2023. Swearing in would be held on January 18, 2023.
On the 21st, the council will discuss how they will nominate and rank candidates so they are not doing so the night of interviews.
