ORANGE : Council Has Dec. 6 Deadline to Fill Seat

The City Council must decide within a week who it will appoint to fill the council seat vacated by Gene Beyer, who was elected mayor earlier this month.

By state law, the city must decide by Dec. 6 whether to appoint the position or hold a special election.

On Tuesday, the council postponed the decision until Dec. 5. Applications for the position will be accepted until 5 p.m. Monday.

Traditionally, the council has filled such openings with appointments, but if no candidate can gain the approval of three council members the matter will go before voters on March 5.

Among the contenders for the seat are City Clerk Marilyn J. Jensen; Russell Barrios, vice president of the school board and aide to 4th District Supervisor Don R. Roth; planning commissioners Randy Bosch and William Cathcart; former planning commissioner David Hart, and Robert Boice, a mayoral candidate this year.

Tom Saenz and Mike Spurgeon, both active members on various city committees, are also potential candidates.

Councilman William G. Steiner said he thought the list of candidates so far had “excellent potential . . . I could support several of them.”

But Beyer said Tuesday that council members were not “any closer than we were a week ago” to selecting a candidate. “I don’t see anybody with three votes,” Beyer said.

Beyer had two years left in his council term when he defeated four other candidates for mayor in the Nov. 6 election.