IRVINE : Appointee Selection Process Gets City OK

The City Council this week agreed on the selection process for appointing someone to fill a vacant council seat.

Under the plan hammered out Tuesday night, the council will begin interviewing all candidates at 4 p.m. on July 27. Once the interviews are completed, council members will vote on the candidates. To be appointed, a candidate must receive three of the four council votes, City Clerk Judy Vonada said.

But the process will be set aside if a group of petitioners can collect the 5,000 or so signatures required for a November special election to fill the seat.

Petition-drive organizers have until 5 p.m. Monday to submit the signatures, which must then be verified. Those interested in being appointed to the council have the same deadline to turn in candidate applications.

Marc Goldstone, one of the petition-drive leaders, said Thursday that the group is “coming close” to collecting its 5,000th name. He plans to present the petitions to the city clerk’s office Monday afternoon.

City rules require that 4,339 signatures, or 7% of the city’s registered voters, be collected for an election to be called. Goldstone said the petitioners are trying to collect a few hundred extra signatures as insurance in case some of the names are disqualified.

“I don’t expect people to be using false names in great numbers,” he said.

Some City Hall observers have noted the possibility that none of the candidates will get enough votes to be appointed.

If no candidate garners three votes, a special election will be called, Vonada said. An election would cost the city about $60,000, she said.

The council seat opened up earlier this month when William A. (Art) Bloomer announced that he was resigning to accept a job in Virginia. About a year remains on Bloomer’s term.