Encinitas Accepting Applications for Vacant City Council Seat

Encinitas residents can now apply for the vacant City Council seat previously held by Maggie Houlihan, who of endometrial cancer.

During a special meeting Thursday night City Council unanimously voted to appoint one of those applicants to the vacant seat, which carries a term that will end in December 2012.

Anyone who wants to apply must do so by 6 p.m. on Oct. 20. City council will interview those applicants during its Oct.26 meeting. All applicants will have five minutes to address City Council during that meeting. After that, City Council members may ask them questions. Once all of the applicants have addressed the council, the public will have an opportunity to comment. If there is an excessive number of applicants, City Council may have to call a special meeting Oct. 27 to finish interviewing candidates. 

On Nov. 2, City Council will openly discuss and vote on who to appoint. The goal is to have that new council person sworn in at the Nov. 9 City Council meeting.

comprised of Councilwomen Kristen Gaspar and Teresa Barth decided the application process was the most appropriate way to fill the vacant seat. A special election was considered, but it would have cost about $320,000 and it would not be possible until February, which is after the deadline state law requires for the vacant spot to be filled. Appointing someone to the vacant seat will only cost the city about $5,000 and it meets the timeline requirements, Gaspar said.

Gaspar and Barth also considered an option that would have allowed council members to nominate candidates, but decided against it because they felt it did not give the public enough say-so.

"We felt it was really important to open up the process to the public and let people have the opportunity to participate and apply," Gaspar said. "And as a council, we can fully discuss candidates openly and know more about them through the application process and also the interview process."

The vacant City Council seat is open to any Encinitas resident who is 18 or older and registered to vote. At least one likely candidate includes Lisa Shaffer, a UCSD lecturer who in an endorsement recorded before she died. 

The person who is appointed to fill the vacant seat will also be responsible for taking on all of the committee seats perviously held by Houlihan. Those committees include: The Encina Wastewater Authority; San Elijo JPA; Santa Fe Irrigation Distrct/San Diego Water Distrcit (SFID/SDWD) R.E. Badger Water Facilities Financing Authority; SFID/SDWD Badger Joint Facilities Advisory Committee; Regional Solid Waste Association; and the  County Service Areas (CSA) 17, which includes Del Mar, Del Mar Heights, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, and portions of Elfin Forest.