By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
The Chapel Hill Town Council will hold an early-morning meeting Friday to review a plan and timeline for naming a replacement for former council member Bill Strom.
Strom, whose term would have expired in 2011, resigned Aug. 1, after the end of the filing period for this fall’s municipal election and during the council’s summer recess.
The special meeting was called to allow the council to review a proposed land purchase on Weaver Dairy Road in closed session.
Foy also sent a memo to council members outlining a proposed process and timeline for filling the seat. In it, he recommends setting Oct. 2 as the deadline for applications to be filed. The council would review the applications at its Oct. 12 meeting and could submit names for nominations. Applicant presentations would be held on Nov. 9. In the memo, Foy points out that the presentations are optional, but are a traditional courtesy extended to the applicants.
Under town ordinances, the mayor is required to provide official notification of a vacancy on the board at the council’s next regular or special meeting. That triggers at least a 30-day process required for the council to put out the call for a potential replacement, review qualifications and officially nominate candidates.
The council’s first meeting back from its break was scheduled for Sept. 14. But Foy’s call for a special meeting to go into closed session to review a land purchase on Weaver Dairy Road means that the notification will take place on Friday before or after the closed session.
Although Strom’s timing prevented placing the seat alongside the other four council slots on the ballot this year, it did not stop electoral politics and the bid to fill the vacancy from being intertwined.
Shortly after word circulated of Friday’s special meeting, council member Matt Czajkowski, who is running for mayor, said he strongly disagrees with the timing of the meeting. In a note to Foy, he cautioned that the short notice and early-morning hour “will generate even greater skepticism toward the process.â€
Fellow council member and mayoral candidate Mark Kleinschmidt said Czajkowski’s note was unfortunate and that his opponent was trying to “stir the pot†by questioning the mayor’s timing.
Kleinschmidt said without evidence to the contrary, he would take the mayor at his word that the meeting to talk about the land purchase was necessary and not an attempt to jumpstart the selection process.
“It basically has zero to no effect on the process,†he said, adding that the nominations will still take place before the election and the nominations and selection after the meeting.
Some town council candidates also said they were concerned with the timing and indicated they would not put in an application for the seat.
John DeHart said he would continue “to try winning a seat by the electoral process.â€
DeHart said the mayor’s decision to call a special meeting and Strom’s decision to resign after the filing period were strikingly similar.
“I think it’s more than coincidental the way they timed it,†he said.
Penny Rich said she disagreed with Strom’s timing as well.
“I do not know what motivated Bill Strom’s decision to vacate his town council position or what influenced his timing. In a democracy, there is nothing more fundamental than the right to vote and thus choose your representation,†Rich wrote in an email to The Citizen. “I believe his replacement should be decided by the citizens, and that is why I will not be submitting my name for appointment to his position.â€
Matt Pohlman said he’d like to see the council appoint a temporary replacement soon.
“The current Town Council should appoint someone immediately to fill the vacancy – stating explicitly that this position is to be interim until the new council is elected on November 3rd,†Pohlman wrote in an email response.
“Once the new council is seated, they will select the council member to fill Strom’s empty seat for the duration of his term.â€
This sort of wheeling and dealing behind closed doors flies in the face of an open democracy. Not only are voters shut out from the decision process for finding a new council member, but the council gets to discuss a land purchase using tax dollars without taxpayers participating in the discussion. This stinks!