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Auburn council discusses interim appointment process after Larry Brown resignation
Summary
Council members debated whether to appoint a temporary "placeholder" to finish the remainder of Larry Brown’s term or to open the seat to applicants who may also run in the upcoming election; staff recommended adding a question to the application form to clarify applicants’ intentions.
The Auburn City Council spent part of its Feb. 24 study session discussing how to fill the vacant council seat left by the resignation of Council member Larry Brown.
Deputy Mayor Raikes opened the discussion by noting the council has 90 days to appoint someone to the seat and asked whether the council wanted a temporary caretaker or to appoint someone who might run in the upcoming election. The discussion centered on fairness to applicants, the council’s existing rules, and whether the city should solicit applicants who intend only to fill the remainder of the term.
City Clerk Nancy explained that the council could open the appointment to all eligible applicants and still choose, during deliberations, to appoint someone who intends only to serve as a placeholder through December. “You can choose to open it up to everyone,” she said. “When the applications come in, you can choose as a council whether you prefer someone who is a placeholder or someone who is new or may want to run for the role.”
City Attorney Jason Whalen proposed a practical step to reduce uncertainty: modify the application form used for appointments to include explicit language about the remaining term and a direct question asking whether applicants intend only to serve the remainder of the term or also plan to run for election in 2025. “We could modify your current application for appointment to include a paragraph that advises of the existing term that’s remaining and specifically asks if they intend to apply for selection just to the remaining term,” Whalen said. He added the city could not legally bind applicants to their stated intent, but it would make candidate intentions transparent to the council.
Council members expressed differing views. Council member Tracy Taylor said she was concerned about fairness if the council effectively favored caretakers by appointing someone who would not run, while Council member Clinton Taylor and Council member Trump Manuel said a temporary placeholder could avoid giving a campaign advantage to an appointed incumbent. Several council members asked that Council member Baldwin, who is excused, be consulted about the approach before the council moves forward.
No formal appointment or vote occurred during the study session. Council members agreed to proceed under the existing Council Rules of Procedure and asked staff to draft the updated application language for the appointment process so it can be distributed to the council for review.
The clerk and city attorney will prepare a revised application form that makes the remaining term explicit and asks applicants to state whether they intend to run for the next full term; the council will receive that form for review before staff posts the vacancy and begins accepting applications.
Next steps: staff will circulate the revised application language to the council and then post the vacancy following the process in the council rules of procedure. No appointment or vote was taken at the Feb. 24 study session.
