MASON CITY – At-large city council member Scott Tornquist abruptly announced Thursday that he is off the city council.
Sources tell NorthIowaToday.com that city hall is working to fill that vacancy at this time, and the council and mayor may decide to simply appoint someone of their choosing to fill the vacancy. However, the council may decide to hold an election, and if not, the public may force the council to call for an election.
Auditor Ken Kline released the following explanation of how the process could work. NorthIowaToday.com is already working on a petition to force an election, should the city council and mayor decide to simply appoint someone and circumvent the Democratic process.
From Auditor Ken Kline:
I have had various questions from several people regarding the vacancy on the city council, and have summarized some information below.
The city council may choose to appoint to fill the vacancy, or may choose to call for a special election. The appointment must be made within 60 days, which would be on or before Monday, August 3rd. if the council would fail to take either step within the 60 days, the county auditor calls for the election.
In order to appoint, the council must publish notice of its intent to appoint, along with a statement the public has a right to file a petition forcing a special election. The appointment is effective until the vacancy would be filled at the November 3rd regular city election for the remainder of the term. If within 14 days after publication of the notice or 14 days after the appointment a petition is filed with the city clerk calling for a special election, then the appointment is effective until the vacancy is filled at the special election for the remainder of the term.
In order for a petition calling a special election to be valid, it must have a minimum of 1,000 signatures of eligible electors of the city. The petition must be filed with the city clerk. I have attached a page from the Auditor’s Guide to Special Elections with the instructions on reviewing a petition highlighted.
I have attached three additional forms:
1) Petition Requesting a Special Election. The top of each page must be filled out completely prior to obtaining signatures. This would include checking the box for eligible electors, filling in “City of Mason City” for the name of the jurisdiction, checking the box “To fill a vacancy in the office of”, filling in “Councilmember At-Large” below that box, and filling in “372.13” for the Iowa Code Section authorizing the election
2) Affidavit of Candidacy
3) Nomination Petition for a Non-Partisan Office.
If an election is called – either through the initiative of the council or through a citizen petition – you must file a request for a special election in this office with a minimum of 32 days notice prior to the day of the election. Also, the election must be called “at the earliest practicable date”. As an example, if the council called for an election at its June 16th meeting and you filed the request the following day, the earliest date possible to hold the special election would be Tuesday, July 21st. For your information, a special city election cannot be held in conjunction with the September 8th regular school election. This blackout also applies to a runoff election, so that the city could not have a special election on August 11th, because of the possible runoff election that would be required to be held on the school election date.
In the event of an election, I would urge candidates running for the office to talk with this office about correctly filling out the nomination papers prior to obtaining signatures. Please be aware that the date of the election must be filled out at the top of the nomination petition prior to getting signatures. For all intents and purposes, this means that a candidate cannot get signatures until a special election would be scheduled. Also, please be aware of a change in Iowa law that requires nomination papers for city elective offices be filed in this office. The minimum number of signatures for a candidate is 140 signatures.
This office recommends all candidates and distributors of petitions get many more than the minimum number of signatures in order to avoid challenges as to the legal sufficiency of a petition.
A waste of money. Just wait until the next election.
I would sign a petition but only if the special election couldbe held at the same time as the regular Council election in November. A special election for a city-wide office costs about $10,000. An appointed council member can’t do much damage between now and November. The budget has already been set and the new one won’t be set until next March. It’s a waste of taxpayer dollars to hold two city-wide elections three months apart.
@Anonymous-Good point. I hadn’t thought about that.
It CAN’T be… it’s state law. Cripes, Iowa Code 372.13 spells it out. Google it.
I will sign the petition.