Simi City Council to fill vacancy by appointment, not special election

The Simi Valley City Council voted unanimously Monday night to fill a council vacancy by appointment rather than special election.

The Simi Valley City Council voted unanimously Monday night to fill a council vacancy by appointment rather than special election.

Under the California Government Code, the single vacancy on the five-member council must be filled by Feb. 8.

The vacancy was created when council member Keith Mashburn was elected mayor in the Nov. 6 election.

The council voted 4-0 in favor of making an appointment after its four neighborhood councils and the city’s Council on Aging showed much more support for that method rather than a special election.

Cost, timeliness cited against special election

At a special meeting last week, 34 members of the executive boards of the five advisory councils voted in favor of appointment, while only two voted in support of a special election.

Seventy-five general members of the five advisory councils voted in favor of appointment, while only four voted in support of a special election.

Mashburn said Monday night that while he usually favors special elections to fill such vacancies, in this instance, he supports an appointment in part because that will fill this vacancy much sooner — by Feb. 8 — than a special election, which would be held Nov. 5.

Another factor he cited in support of an appointment is the cost of a special election to the city — at least $253,000.

MORE:Simi Valley switches to by-district council election system starting in 2020

“Typically, I’m very much pro special election,” he said. “But circumstances are such that ... that is not the way to go in this particular case. ... I think at this time, the costs versus benefits, it doesn’t weigh out.”

Council member Dee Dee Cavanaugh also cited those same factors in favoring an appointment.

But freshman council member Ruth Luevanos, as she has previously made clear, said she favors a special election.

“My opinion is well-known on this issue,” she said. “I know $250,000 seems like a lot of money, and I believe in fiscal responsibility ... (but) it is a small amount of money for democracy.”

Even so, Luevanos wound up voting with the others in favor of an appointment.

She said in an interview afterward that had she voted for a special election, she would have been accused of being fiscally irresponsible.

“And if this (appointment) is what the majority of the people want, then I don’t want to seem like I’m not listening to them,” she said.

Appointment will be made by Feb. 8

Deputy City Manager Samantha Argabrite said city staff will now put together an application packet for those who want to be considered for the seat. Information on how to obtain a packet is available by calling the City Clerk's Office, 805-583-6748 or on the city’s website, simivalley.org.

Among other criteria, applicants must be Simi Valley residents, have been registered to vote in November's general election and have a minimum of three years' verifiable current experience as a volunteer.

The packets must be completed and returned to the city by 5 p.m. Jan. 28. Each applicant must obtain the signatures of 20-30 registered voters supporting their application.

The City Council will then interview the applicants in a public forum, which has not yet been scheduled, and make the appointment by Feb. 8, Argabrite said. An applicant will need the votes of at least three of the four current council members to be appointed, she said.

The appointee will sit on the council only until the November 2020 election, unless he or she is elected to a full four-year in that election.

Until it fills the vacancy, the council can fully function.

More Simi Valley news: