With an election looming, the City of Wasco is now tasked with filling a vacant council seat and is slated to decide whether to hold an election with only one nominee for each open seat.
- Following the departure of former Wasco Mayor Alex Garcia, the City put out guidelines for City Council applicants who wish to be appointed to the District 5 seat.
- According to the document posted on the City’s website, candidates must apply by August 27 at 5 p.m. and be available for a public interview with the city council on August 30th at 6 p.m.
- The remaining Council members will then vote on their pick to fill the seat and the new City Council member will be sworn in at the regularly scheduled council meeting on September 3.
- When looking at the regularly scheduled election for November, Wasco City Manager Scott Hurlbert says because there is only one nominee for each district that is up for grabs, the City Council will be voting to determine whether to hold a ballot election with a single person on the ballot for each district or to simply appoint the nominees as city council members for the upcoming cycle and save the city money, instead of holding the election.
- Hurlbert said the practice isn’t common, but it has been done before in Wasco, most recently during the 2018 Municipal Election.