Open call for LCF City Council seat draws 16 candidates; officials to decide on appointment versus special election
When the city of La Cañada Flintridge put out a call last month it would be accepting applications to fill a council seat left vacant by the May 16 passing of longtime Councilman Dave Spence, officials received an overwhelming response.
As of the June 30 deadline, 16 candidates had officially announced their interest in being considered for the position, according to City Clerk Tania Moreno.
Candidates include Planning Commission Chair Rick Gunter, Public Works and Traffic Commissioner Chuck Gelhaar, Parks and Recreation Commission Vice Chair Charlie Kamar and Keith Eich, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in the March 7 election.
Other residents throwing their hats into the ring are former City Councilman Greg Brown, who served from 2003 to 2011, Nalini Lasiewicz, Peter Chung, Roderic “Rod” Essen, Wesley Walton, Lainie Miller, Candice Rosen, Brett Johnston, Joe Radabaugh, John “Jack” Schaedel, Lara Kayayan and John W. Hicks II.
Moreno said Wednesday a number of applications came in near the June 30 deadline, including two on Thursday and six on Friday.
City Council members were scheduled to meet Wednesday night, past the Valley Sun’s press deadline, to decide whether to confirm their desire to appoint an applicant or call a special election in November.
Moreno said if council members opted to move forward in appointing a candidate, they would likely schedule a special meeting on July 11, and July 12 if needed, to conduct interviews with all 16 applicants. After that, they would need to agree on a single appointee by a July 14 deadline.
Alternately, if the council decides to call a special election, members will have to submit the appropriate resolutions to the county by the July 14 deadline, the clerk said. Financing the cost of the election, estimated in a staff report to be about $78,000, could be decided at a later date.
In that event, interested candidates would have to pull papers and file all required documents during the July 17 to Aug. 11 filing period, having gathered at least 20 confirmable signatures from La Cañada residents.
“If they call the special election, whoever is in — it could be those 16 applicants, or anyone else — would have to come into the city clerk’s office and pull nomination papers,” Moreno said.
Moreno said signature petition sheets contain 30 spaces, to allow for more names in case any of the signatures are deemed invalid after papers have been submitted.
“I’d highly recommend they do get those 30 signatures,” she added. “That way, if the signatures are duplicates or if they’re not registered to vote for any reason, [the candidate] does still get those 20 signatures.”
Once filled by appointment or election, the new council member’s term would run until March 5, 2019.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
