Filling second vacancy stirs Capitola City Council as process moves forward

The Capitola City Council decided Thursday to not reinvent the wheel, and will handle the second council vacancy of the year just as it did the first. 

Capitola residents of voting age can apply for the open city council seat between Tuesday and June 3. The city council will then review the applications and vote June 12 on whom to appoint. Just as in January, when the council had to fill a seat vacated by former councilmember Yvette Brooks, the elected officials will use ranked-choice voting to determine the appointee. During that meeting, the councilmembers selected then-former councilmember Margaux Morgan, who lost her reelection bid only months earlier. 

Earlier this month, then-councilmember Alexander Pedersen abruptly resigned from his seat with more than 18 months remaining in his term. Pedersen said his decision came on the heels of a pressure campaign from the group Concerned Citizens of Capitola, which had called foul on his recent purchase of a home outside of city limits. 

Pedersen claimed to still primarily live in a rented apartment in Capitola, but said the pressure from the citizens group was taking too much of a toll on his personal life. As Lookout previously reported, whether Pedersen was in violation of state residency laws is unclear. 

On Thursday, City Councilmember Gerry Jensen acknowledged the confusion over residency, and sought to require applicants for the interim city council seat to provide proof of residency, whether through a tax or utility bill. The city council supported the requirement; however, the city’s attorney, Samantha Zutler, said she needed to check whether the city could require candidates to provide such documents.  

The city council chose the open application-appointment process over hosting a special election, which would have cost the taxpayers up to $56,000. 

On Thursday, Councilmember Melinda Orbach criticized Concerned Citizens of Capitola for its “successful” political campaign to “oust” Pedersen. She said the city council should seek to appoint someone who does not have a history of activism on major Capitola issues, and who would commit to not running for the seat in 2026. 

“I would like this unelected councilmember to be someone who has experience in local government and can hit the ground running,” Orbach said. “Someone who will not drive his or her own opinion on any of the issues, but will rather make decisions based on the facts presented.”

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