Riverside must fill council vacancy

The Riverside City Council talked about how and when to fill the council?s vacant seat. Councilor Betty Kaalberg died May 4 after suffering a stroke the week before. The council discussed whether her seat should be filled by appointment or by a special election over the summer. The council agreed to ask for letters of interest from community members who would like to fill the position.

Kaalberg was going to be up for re-election this November. If the council appoints someone to fill her seat, that seat is still up for election in the fall. Whoever wins the election would then be sworn in as a councilor at the next meeting.

Councilor Ralph Schnoebelen said he wants to hold a special election rather than to appoint someone to fill the position until the fall. He said that if the council appointed someone, the public could petition for a special election. He also said he believed the council could initiate the special election itself.

Mayor Brian McDole said he wasn?t sure if the council could initiate the special election. In an interview Tuesday, Washington County Auditor Bill Fredrick said both the council and the citizens can initiate a special election.

Audience member and Riverside resident Mike Meinders said he thought the appointment usually went to the person who received the most votes in the last election but who did not win a council seat.

If a special election were held, the winner would be up for re-election in November but would continue serving until the end of the year regardless of the outcome in November. That is different from an appointee, whose tenure would end once the election is canvassed and the auditor?s office releases the official results. At that time, the winner of the November election would assume the position.

If the council chooses to appoint a successor, it must do so within 40 days of the vacancy, which in this case is 40 days from Kaalberg?s death. If, however, the council wishes to fill the vacancy via a special election, it must do so within 90 days. Fredrick said that if the council does neither of these, it would be in violation of the Code of Iowa.

Fredrick said his office would have a difficult time handling a special election in July because his staff will be on vacation or in training. He said that his ?guesstimate? for the cost of a special election is ?less than $2,000.? The cost of the election depends on the kind of ballots used. If Riverside uses paper ballots, it would mean more work for him and his staff but would save money.

?The expensive part is the programming for the optical scan machines,? said Fredrick.

In other news, Meinders addressed the council about its agendas. He said there is not enough information on the agenda about the ordinances up for a vote. He said he?d like the council to include a summary of what the ordinance is on the agenda. McDole said the council was already doing that, and that he would be mindful of it in the future.

Riverside resident Jan Schnoebelen addressed the council to ask, ?I want to know how you decide which alleys and roads you chip and seal??

Councilor Rodney Waldschmidt said the city is in the process of doing that. He said the city should do all of the roads and alleys once before it does any road a second time. Jan said the alley next to the business she and her husband own is practically mud.

The council agreed to hire Washington County deputies to patrol TrekFest June 24-25. The city will pay the deputies $15 an hour and will hire three of them to work on Friday, June 24, and three to work the following day.