Chair announces Mark Severance will not seek reappointment; trustees to recruit replacement

The presiding officer (Chair) announced that Trustee Mark Severance, whose term expired Oct. 1, will not be able to serve again, creating an opening for the board's fifth trustee. "He asked me to wait the last meeting because he was trying to make a decision whether he want to serve again," the Chair said, and added, "I checked with him this morning, and he, regretfully is not gonna be able to serve again."

Board members discussed how to fill the vacancy. The Chair said trustees nominate and approve the 5th trustee and that nominees do not need to live in the city. A trustee proposed asking the city clerk to post an advertisement on the city website to solicit applicants; the trustee said, "Can we maybe ask the city clerk to post an ad on the city website looking for people to be appointed." The Chair agreed to contact the clerk to create a pool of candidates and will follow up at the next meeting.

The board agreed to wait until the pool is established before holding an internal election for chair (the current chairman is stepping down). The Chair said Palmer Wilson, the reappointed counsel and the board's secretary, will serve as the primary contact for board business in the interim. The trustees set the next meeting for Jan. 15, when nominations could be considered.