MAYOR WILL LIKELY BRING NAME FORWARD FOR APPOINTMENT ON JAN. 28
The Jamestown City Council (shown during its Nov. 26 voting session) was reduced to eight sitting members following the resignation of At Large Councilwoman Vanessa Weinert
JAMESTOWN – A number of people are being considered for appointment to fill an at-large Jamestown City Council seat that was officially vacated last month following the resignation of councilwoman Vanessa Weinert.
That’s according to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who told WRFA following Monday night’s city council work session that he’s currently considering up to ten different city residents who are qualified for the post.
“Much to my surprise we’ve had a lot of interest,” the mayor said. “There’s about ten quality individuals that have stepped forward at this time that all meet the baseline requirements of the charter. I’m in the process of interviewing all of those candidates and a few more interviews are scheduled for this week.”
Teresi said that during the next couple weeks he’ll consider weighing his options before bringing a name forward for the full city council to consider. According to the city charter, any vacated council seat must be filled by appointing an individual from the same political party as the person who had left the position and the appointment must be approved by a majority vote of the city council.
Teresi said he hopes that the council will be able to act on an appointment by the January voting session.
“I’ve been in contact with various members of the city council, keeping them abreast of the process and will continue to do so. My timetable is to have a nominee ready by the end of this month. If it’s the council’s pleasure to take action and ratify the nominee it would be my goal to have it read on Jan. 28,” Teresi added.
The names of the residents interested in filling the seat were not provided.
The At Large council seat was vacated after the city council accepted Vanessa Weinert’s resignation during its December voting session. Weinert was elected to her first term on the council in November 2017. She had been absent from the council since Mid-September following the death of her husband. She formally submitted her resignation letter prior to the December voting session, citing personal reasons for leaving the council, but adding she may return to public service down the road.
Whoever is appointed to fill the seat will remain until the next general election in November of this year, when the other eight council seats will also be up for election, as well as the office of mayor.
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