Quick Take
Instead of choosing between two recently unsuccessful city council candidates, the Capitola City Council opted Thursday to switch gears and fill a vacant seat through an open application process. The council will make the final selection on Jan. 30.
The vacant seat on the Capitola City Council will be filled through an open application process after councilmembers voted Thursday to change course.
After Mayor Yvette Brooks abruptly vacated her seat earlier this month, the council originally opted to choose between two candidates who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the city council in November: former councilmember Margaux Morgan and Enrique Dolmo Jr., campus supervisor and athletic director at New Brighton Middle School. In the four-person race for two open seats, Morgan and Dolmo finished third and fourth, respectively, losing out to Melinda Orbach and Gerry Jensen.
The plan was to openly interview Morgan and Dolmo at Thursday’s special meeting, and select one of them to finish out the remaining two years of Brooks’ term. However, Morgan was unable to attend, and the city council was ready to postpone the selection until its next regular meeting on Jan. 30. But members of the public pushed back, urging the city council to reconsider its plan and pursue a more open selection process that cast a wider net beyond the two unsuccessful council candidates.
Former city councilmember Ed Bottorff cautioned against limiting the choice to one between Morgan, an incumbent rejected by voters, and Dolmo, who has no formal city council experience.
“I know Margaux and Enrique, they’re both wonderful people, but they came in third and fourth, don’t just ignore that,” Bottorff told the council.
Orbach and Councilmember Alex Pedersen voiced initial support for limiting the choice to Morgan and Dolmo, arguing that they were the only other people in the community who stepped up to run for city council in the fall. Each had campaigned and laid out their platforms to the voters.
However, Jensen said he felt the community clearly favored a more open process. Vice Mayor Joe Clarke, uncertain at first, agreed. The city council eventually voted unanimously to accept applications for the city council seat from eligible Capitola voters until Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m.
When the city council reconvenes on Jan. 30, it will begin the meeting by considering the applications and voting on whom to appoint. Immediately after, the new interim city councilmember will be sworn in. The first order of business after that: selecting two city councilmembers to serve as mayor and vice mayor for 2025.
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