With 9 official candidates running for two seats, the Antioch City Council agreed unanimously to fill Gary Agopians vacant City Council seat through the November election since it was already scheduled to be filled.
The Council had the option to either appoint a person for the remainder of the term, hold an application process, or wait until November4 election. Since an election was already called for November, the Council didn’t need to take action.
Willie Mims told the council that he believed the city of Antioch needed a formal policy with vacant seats because this was the third time they have had to appoint.
It was then explained by legal that many cities do not have a policy because each situation is different and a variety of issues could come up such as term remaining. The though up to this point the council would look at the situation and make a decision for the best interest of the city.
City Manager Steve Duran explained that should they move froward with a formal application process, the person appointed would serve no more than 5 meetings–he estimated as little as 2-meetings.
Councilman Tony Tiscareno, who benefited from a application process, stated he would like to see a policy in place, but stated that each situation is different.
“I was able to go through that process which was time consuming but we had 2-years remaining on the seat. But you have to look at different situations at different times,” explained Tiscareno. “As far as I am concerned an outright appointment is not fair. An application process is more fair because you have an idea of who wants to participate. We would be better off to wait for the November election. We have 10 candidates vying for 2 seats. To pick one or someone else is not fair to those trying to run. I prefer the general election.”
Councilwoman Monica Wilson agreed stated it was close enough to the general election so she preferred to allow the citizens to fill the seat through the election.
Updated Candidate List – 9 official candidates
As of close of the filing period at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 8th, the following candidates have filed their nomination papers with the Antioch City Clerk. Updated Monday, August 11th.
The following have submitted their nomination papers with the City Clerk by the close of the filing period: 5:00 p.m., Friday, August 8th:
- Diane Gibson-Gray – Qualified
- Lori Ogorchock – Qualified
- Anthony Segovia – Qualified
- Tony Tiscareno – Qualified
- Lamar A. Thorpe – Qualified
- Steven Bado – Qualified
- Karl Dietzel – Qualified
- Jeffrey Hall-Cottrell – Qualified
- Sandy McGee – Awaiting verification of signature count
- Amber Avelino – Did not Qualify due to insufficient number of valid signatures of registered Antioch voters.
1 comment
Diane Gibson-Grey is the only candidate who has information about themselves outside of Facebook – a social media service with whom many folks no longer participate. By default, she gets my vote. It’s an added caveat that she seems pretty solid as a person as well!
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