Anaheim Can’t Afford Special Election : Amid Fiscal Crisis, the City Council Should Try Harder to Fill Its Vacant Seat Itself

The city of Anaheim is still trying to sort out its financial future in the wake of a possible $45-million loss from the county’s investment pool. The city says its reserve fund is a saving grace, and that it has affirmed its desire to go forward with plans for major new development.

But while a detailed plan to sort out the financial picture is not expected to be completed until later this month, the city still can send an important message through the way it handles a City Council vacancy.

The vacancy does not have anything to do with the county’s bankruptcy crisis, but it has a lot to do with signaling an intention not to waste public money. It results from an election quirk arising from a 1992 charter amendment that changed the way the mayor was selected. In the past, the mayor was chosen from sitting council members, but because of the change, Mayor Tom Daly ran for the office in the middle of his council/mayor term, thus creating a council vacancy. Since the election, the council has been in a quandary over what to do about the vacancy. According to the city charter, if a consensus is not reached by Jan. 29, 60 days after the seat became vacant, a special election may be conducted.

The city should take great pains to avoid the $100,000 expense of such a needless campaign in view of all the legitimate claims on city resources. With a trying fiscal climate, and all the city is trying to do for its business and for its neighborhoods, that amount of money can go a long way and should be saved if at all possible.

Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald is expected to rule Friday on whether Shirley McCracken, who finished third in the Nov. 8 election, should be sworn in. McCracken fell just one council vote short of getting the three needed, and she is demanding she be sworn in. New council member Bob Zemel argues that the vacant seat should be filled by someone who did not run in November’s election, on the grounds that the appointee should not be perceived as having political ties to anyone on the council. McCracken, however, says she is not a political ally of Daly, who supported her. When that nomination fell short, Daly backed Paul Bostwick, who placed fifth in the election. Whether McCracken is the person of choice or not is something for the council to iron out, but dismissing anyone because she ran for the office is silly. It makes no sense to disqualify politically active citizens, some of the very people likely to be the most knowledgeable and concerned with the welfare of their community.