By Denise Lana,
A decision on how to fill an expected vacancy on the Decorah City Council is still pending after a split vote last week.
The council met in special session Thursday, Aug. 8 to discuss options for replacing Councilman At Large Ross Hadley, who previously announced his intent to resign as of Sept. 1. The council previously discussed the matter during its regular Aug. 5 meeting but did not reach a decision at that time.
Special elections can cost around $6,000-$8,000, according to Keri Sand, Decorah’s City Clerk and Financial Officer. Council members hoped to save costs by potentially holding the election for Hadley’s seat in conjunction with the Nov. 5 general election. However, officials learned last week that won’t be an option.
Decorah City Attorney John Anderson previously met with Winneshiek County Auditor Ben Steines, and both initially felt a special election was an ideal solution to fill Hadley’s seat.
“But when I contacted the Secretary of State’s office, we discovered there is conflicting information — they said, ‘Now hold on, you can’t even hold an election,’” Anderson said.
Decorah City Councilman Randy Schissel felt it was an instance in which common sense did not prevail.
Without the option of running on the Nov. 5 ballot, the city council will need to hold a special election for Hadley’s seat. The first day a special election can be held is Dec. 10, in accordance with guidelines which require a certain period of time between a special and general election. Additionally, the special election process cannot begin until Hadley officially resigns.
If the council decides to appoint a temporary replacement for Hadley’s seat, the council could begin that process immediately.
“Dec. 10 feels like we would have a vacancy too long on the council,” said Councilwoman At Large Emily Neal. “I think we should appoint.”
Mayor Lorraine Borowski felt appointing a new council member was an ideal option, adding the council could potentially have applications ready for review and selection before the Sept. 3 council meeting. Borowski said it was likely the public would ask for a special election if the council made an appointment. Neal noted a new council member could possibly be installed by Sept. 16 if the council chose to appoint its new member.
Councilman Steven Zittergruen said he trusts the public to select someone they believe can do the job well, adding he feels the work of appointing someone to the soon-to-be vacated council seat may not be worthwhile.
Councilman Randy Schissel also felt a special election was the best path.
“A vacancy — we’ve dealt with those before, not having a city manager, a city clerk, a police chief,” he said. “Three months without a city council person, it’s not make or break for us.”
Neal rebutted Schissel’s comment, saying a continued vacancy on the seven-seat council could potentially delay city matters.
“If we don’t fill that vacancy, we will have a 3-3 vote and that vote fails,” Neal said. “I can’t imagine having six members on the council and having a split vote and having ordinance after ordinance fail — we’d wind up with a pretty stagnant government meeting through the entire fall.”
And it was a split vote the council reached Thursday as they voted on whether to appoint a successor for Hadley — Parker, Neal and Olson voted for an appointment, while Schissel, Miculinich and Zittergruen voted against one. Hadley was absent from the vote.
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