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CITY OF NAPA
Staff Reports Details (With Text)
File #: Version: 1344-2024 Name:
Status:Type: Afternoon Administrative
Report
Agenda Ready
File created: In control:9/17/2024 CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NAPA On agenda: Final action:10/15/2024 10/15/2024
Title: Process to fill one upcoming Council Vacancy
Sponsors:
Indexes:
Code sections:
Attachments:
1. ATCH 1 - Excerpts from City Charter and CA Government Code, 2. ATCH 2 - Draft Councilmember Application
Action ByDate Action ResultVer.
approvedCITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
NAPA
10/15/2024 1 Pass
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Tiffany Carranza, City Clerk
Prepared By: Tiffany Carranza, City Clerk
TITLE:
Process to fill one upcoming Council Vacancy
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Provide direction regarding the process to be followed to fill one anticipated vacancy on the City Council - District 1, for the unexpired term ending in 2026.
DISCUSSION:
Liz Alessio was re-elected as City of Napa Councilmember for District 1 in 2022, for a scheduled four- year term ending in 2026. However, as a result of the March 5, 2024 Statewide Primary Election, she won election to and will be sworn in as Napa County Supervisor for County District 2 for a term beginning January 6, 2025. This will result in a vacancy on the City Council for the unexpired District 1 term of Councilmember Alessio which ends in 2026.
Under the City Charter and State law, Council Member Alessio’s seat will become “vacant” upon either (i) her swearing into office as a County Supervisor, or (ii) the earlier service of a resignation letter to the City Clerk. The City Charter provides that the remaining four members of City Council shall appoint a person to fill the unexpired term of the vacant seat within 45 days of the vacancy.
Other than the 45-day timing requirement, and that an appointee be a resident and registered voter of the City and District 1, there are no mandated procedural requirements for how the City Council may consider candidates for appointment to fill the vacancy. (See Attachment 1, City Charter Sections 11 and 12, and California Government Code Sections 1770, 34882 and 36512).
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ATTACHMENT 1
File #: 344-2024, Version: 1
Options for Appointment Processes
For historical context, in the past 28 years, there have been four vacancies on the City Council (September 1996, January 1999, January 2015 and November 2017), all of which have been filled by appointment, following different processes.
Most recently, when former Councilmember Juliana Inman announced her retirement and resigned in November 2017, City Council directed the City Clerk to conduct a recruitment only from former City Councilmembers to fill the vacancy. Applications were accepted from October 26th through November 9, 2017 and two applications were received. On November 14, 2017, the remaining members of Council interviewed the applicants and appointed former Councilmember James Krider to fill the vacancy of the unexpired term, which ended following the 2018 Municipal Election.
A more similar situation to this one was when former Councilmember Alfredo Pedroza was appointed by the Governor to fill a vacancy on the Napa County Board of Supervisors, and resigned from City Council effective January 2, 2015, leaving a vacant unexpired term of nearly two years (ending November 2016).
The City Council accepted applications from candidates from January 7 through 20, 2015 and interviewed 16 candidates during a special meeting on January 31, 2015 (from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.). Each candidate was randomly selected to participate in an approximate 15-minute interview.
Ultimately, Mary Luros was appointed and sworn in to office to fill the unexpired term through November 2016.
Other methods used in the past include the following: In 1996, then Councilmember Wagenknecht was appointed to fill former Mayor Solomon’s term, and Jill Techel was appointed to City Council without an interview process. In 1999, after Mr. Wagenknecht was elected to Napa County Board of Supervisors, Ray Sercu was appointed to fill his term, but the minutes do not reflect that he was interviewed (six others were, but were not appointed).
From a timing perspective, it is assumed that Councilmember Alessio will participate in the City Council meeting on December 17
th and either tender her resignation sometime between December 18, 2024 and January 5, 2025, or she will automatically surrender her Council seat when she swears into County office. At which point the 45-day time period would begin. As indicated below, the proposed appointment decision date would be either January 7 or January 9, both of which would fall after the vacancy occurs.
Special Election if No Appointment is Made
If there is no appointment within 45 days after the vacancy, the Council is required by the City Charter to immediately call a special election to fill the vacancy in the same manner as the election of elective officers at a regular municipal election. Given these timing circumstances, the next available dates to hold a special election under the California Elections Code and City Charter would be either November 4, 2025 (next available standard election with voting centers and all-mail ballots) or an optional earlier all-mail ballot special election on May 6, 2025 (if called no later than January 12, 2025).
Any special election in 2025 would be a “standalone” election, meaning that the City would be responsible for all election costs, which are estimated at $75,000-$90,000.
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ATTACHMENT 1
File #: 344-2024, Version: 1
Next Steps
If Council directs staff to initiate an appointment process to fill the anticipated vacancy on Council, the City Clerk and City Manager propose the following process and timeline for an open recruitment:
· Recruitment opens: November 18, 2024
o Applications available on the City’s website and in the office of the City Clerk. o Outreach: City of Napa webpage, social media outlets and weekly newsletter. · Recruitment closes: December 20, 2024
· Scheduled interviews:
o If there are 5 or less applicants, interviews and appointment to occur during the regularly scheduled January 7, 2025 City Council meeting evening session. o If there are more than 5 applicants, interviews can be held on January 7 th to narrow the
pool, and final interviews and appointment to occur at a special meeting of the City Council to be held on January 9th.
The prior appointment in 2015 was for an at-large seat. With the recent transition to Districts, staff anticipates a smaller number of applicants due to the District 1 residency requirement.
As noted above, the four remaining members of City Council have broad discretion to establish an appointment process to fill a vacancy on Council, within the 45-day deadline. Council may direct the Clerk to recruit candidates using a formal application and interview process similar to what was used previously (see Attachment 2 for draft example), or Council could nominate candidates based on particular criteria without an application process.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
No fiscal impact for appointment process. The cost for a special election is estimated between $75,000 to $90,000.
CEQA:
The City Clerk has determined that the recommended action described in this agenda report is not subject to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Excerpts from City Charter and California Government Code
ATCH 2 - Draft Councilmember Application
NOTIFICATION:
None.
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ATTACHMENT 1