City Council members will choose a new member in March to replace Ashlee Evans, City Council member for Ward 11, who resigned her seat on Jan. 20. The newly appointed member will fill the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term until the next City general election.
“In Ward 11, I know we have some very qualified candidates who will be interested in applying for the vacancy,” said Mayor Pitts. “Everyone who applies will have to go through the same process the current Council members went through, which is outlined in the City Charter and Code. And while it might seem like a lengthy process, I truly believe it’s a position worth applying for and serving.”
The City Charter and City Code outline the qualifications for Council members and the process used to fill a vacancy for a City Council position. The Charter says Council members shall be elected by a majority of the votes cast for the seat they seek.
Qualifications
Candidates applying to fill a vacancy on the City Council must be qualified in accordance with the Clarksville City Charter and general state law. A City Councilman must be a resident of the City of Clarksville; be at least 18; have resided in the City for 12 months, and reside in and be qualified to vote in the ward to which they seek appointment.
Application process
The City Clerk will publish a notice of the specific vacancy. Within 60 days of the vacancy, all qualified applicants must appear before the Council at a regularly scheduled meeting, which in this case will be March 3, to make known their intention to apply to fill one of the vacancies.
Applicants may make a brief statement to the City Council at the meeting about their desire to serve on the Council -- including their background, education, training, employment, military service, volunteer work, and other matters appropriate to an evaluation of their application -- and they may answer questions from Council members.
Within 14 days of that meeting, the Mayor will call a special meeting of the Council to appoint an applicant to fill the vacancy.
Only those applicants who appear at the March 3rd meeting and make known their intention to apply to fill the vacancy may be considered at the special called meeting.
Voting procedures
The successor for the open Ward seat will be appointed upon receiving a majority vote of the entire membership of the Council. If no applicant receives a majority vote or more of the City Council during the first vote, then a second round of voting will take place.
Subsequent voting rounds, to include run-off votes to eliminate the lowest vote-getters, if necessary, will be conducted until an applicant receives a majority vote. Upon approval and appointment by the City Council, the applicant will immediately be sworn in by the Mayor and take their seat, holding office until the next general election.
For more information on applicant qualifications, go to https://bit.ly/3iD13Et.
To learn more about the procedure to fill a City Council vacancy, go to https://bit.ly/3rwWPlD.