Politics & Government
Lake Elsinore City Council Appointment To Be Transparent
Currently, five applicants have met the qualifications for consideration; another two applications are being vetted by staff, according to City Clerk Virginia Bloom.
In an effort to be more transparent, the Lake Elsinore City Council will select and appoint its next council member in a public forum.
During Tuesday’s regularly scheduled City Council meeting, it was unanimously decided that council members Melissa Melendez and Brian Tisdale will form a two-person appointment committee to identify the top City Council applicants. That process of interviewing applicants will take place during a special open meeting that has yet to be scheduled.
From that meeting, the appointment committee will ask the selected applicants to return for the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting on Aug. 23. At that time, applicants will be interviewed by all council members during the open portion of the meeting and a final appointment is expected.
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All meetings will take place at the on Main Street.
The City Council vacancy opened July 26 when former Mayor Amy Bhutta
Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The idea of greater transparency was proposed by Melendez who pointed out the current council is comprised of elected officials.
“Everyone got to vote for us,” she said.
City staff had recommended that council appoint a two-member appointment committee that would decide a single nominee for consideration during the Aug. 23 meeting.
But the interview process of narrowing down to just one would have taken place behind closed doors.
“That’s not transparent,” Melendez said.
The other alternative was to forgo the appointment process and put the issue to the voters via a special election, but the cost to the city – approximately $70,000 – was prohibitive, it was decided Tuesday.
Currently, five applicants have met the qualifications for consideration to the council post; another two applications are being vetted by staff, according to City Clerk Virginia Bloom.
Lake Elsinore residents interested in serving on the City Council have until Aug. 15 to file an application. Click here for more information on the process and to download an application.
The appointment term will expire in November 2012.
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