At the Dec. 2 meeting of the Windsor Town Council, the agenda will be short but the discussion likely lengthy as the council first seats its newly elected members — Mayor Dominic Foppoli and District 3 council member Deborah Fudge — and says farewell to long-serving councilmember Bruce Okrepkie, and then decides how they will fill Foppoli’s council seat.
The vacancy is occurring as part of the transition to district elections with an at-large mayor. Foppoli’s victory in the mayoral race empties the last two years of his at-large council seat. Now, the council must select between two possible options: Appoint a qualified individual to fill the vacancy through the remainder of the term, either through direct appointment or following a process for applications and/or interviews and/or other steps or adopt a resolution calling a special municipal election to fill the vacancy.
The seat being vacated by Foppoli is a four year at-large seat with two years remaining in the term, expiring in December 2022. The seat being vacated is not a district seat and will remain an at-large seat for the remainder of the term. Therefore, any qualified resident of the town may be appointed or elected to fill the vacancy; this vacancy need not be filled from any specific district.
However, when the seat comes up for election in 2022, if the appointed councilperson must run to represent the district in which they reside.
California Government Code requires that within 60 days from the commencement of the vacancy, the council must decide to either fill the vacancy by appointment or by calling a special election and it must do so no later than Jan. 31, 2021.
Filling the vacancy by appointment
If the council chooses to fill the vacant seat by appointment, the person appointed must be a member of the public who legally resides within the town limits and is registered to vote.
According to the agenda, there are no state laws or municipal ode provisions establishing specific procedures to make an appointment. No formal application process is required, and the town council may appoint any eligible person to fill the vacancy. They can decide to simply nominate individuals or go through an application and interview process. If the council opts to fill the vacancy by appointment and hold interviews, the Brown Act requires the interviews conducted by the entire council in open session. Regardless of which appointment process the town council decides to use, the appointment must be completed prior to Jan. 31, 2021.
Calling a Special Election
The town council may also choose to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Calling a special election requires the vote of a majority of a quorum of the council. If the council calls a special election, the person elected will hold office until December 2022, when the term of the former incumbent expires (and at which time the seat will convert to a district seat).
The special election must be held at the next regularly established election date, not less than 114 days from the date the council calls the special election. The next possible election date would be Nov. 2, 2021, unless the council elected to hold an election conducted wholly by mail.
A mailed ballot election can be held the first Tuesday following the first Monday in May of each year (May 4, 2021). However, to hold a mailed ballot election on May 4, 2021, the council must call the special election not less than 114 days prior, which is Jan. 10, 2021. The next mailed ballot election date is the last Tuesday in August of each year (Aug. 31, 2021); however, to hold an election on this date, the council must still call the election no later than Jan. 31, 2021.
Given the upcoming dates of the next few council meetings, the following timelines for a special election would apply.
Assuming the town council calls a special election at either the Dec. 16 meeting or the Jan. 6, 2021 meeting, the special election could occur May 4, 2021. The town council may also hold a special meeting to call a special election for May 4, 2021, as long it does so no later than Jan. 10, 2021. If the council calls a special election at the Jan. 20, 2021 meeting (or otherwise between Jan. 11 and 30, 2021 by special meeting), the special election would occur Aug. 31, 2021.
Elections Code authorizes a “small city” to conduct a mail-only election to fill a council vacancy, subject to certain conditions. A “small city” means a city with a population of 100,000 or less which Windsor qualifies as.
Thus Windsor can conduct a mail-only election, subject to the following conditions, according to the agenda: (1) the council must authorize, by resolution, the use of the mailed ballots for the special election; (2) the election must be a special election to fill a vacancy on the town council; (3) the election is not held on the same date as a statewide primary or general election; (4) the election is not consolidated with any other elections; and (5) the return of voted mailed ballots are subject to the same rules that otherwise apply to vote-by-mail ballots.
However, cost will be a significant issue for a mail-only election. According to the agenda, the exact costs of a mail-only special election are difficult to estimate.
Items that can affect the cost of a special election include the number of registered voters; postage costs for both the ballots and other elections material; printing costs of ballots and voter information guides; production and mailing ballots and information of military and overseas voters; and creation, size and typesetting of the voter information guide.
Given these factors, the estimated cost to hold a special election is $61,732 to $100,315.
Under consent items, the council will be extending the terms of current committee members until the empty council seat is filled.
