ANAHEIM : City’s 5th Try to Fill Seat on Council Set Tonight

With only this week left before they will be forced to call a special election, the City Council tonight will try for the fifth time to fill a vacant seat on the panel.

So far, seven people have been nominated for the job, but all have failed to get the three votes needed to win the seat.

Mayor Tom Daly and Councilmen Frank Feldhaus and Bob Zemel have recommended people in the last six weeks, then deadlocked on each of them.

Shirley McCracken, who was nominated twice, lost a court battle last Friday when a judge ruled that the two votes she received both times she was nominated last month did not constitute a majority, even though Zemel abstained from voting each time.

Other unsuccessful nominees have been: Paul Bostwick, Cheryl Pereira, Steve Bristol, Bob Messe, Tom Tait, and JoAnn Barnett.

Both Bostwick and Tait have been nominated twice.

Councilman Lou Lopez has not changed from his position that the seat should be filled through a special election.

Lopez has not nominated anyone for the job and has voted “no” on all nominees.

The council vacancy is the result of a change in the City Charter, which altered the way the mayor is elected.

In the past, mayoral candidates had to be sitting council members and served a two-year term.

Beginning with November’s election, the mayor is elected at-large for a four-year term. When Daly was reelected in November as mayor, he was in the middle of his council/mayor term.

The charter states that if the seat has not been filled within 60 days of becoming empty--in this case Jan. 28--a special election must be conducted. The election probably would not be held until June and would cost the city an estimated $100,000.

If the council deadlocks again tonight, a special meeting could be called before the Saturday deadline in order to make a selection.