Effective January 1, 2019, the filling of vacancies in the offices of the Mayor and/or Council Member shall be conducted pursuant to the following provisions.
(A) Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in the offices of the Mayor and/or Council Member, the City Clerk shall promptly publish notice of the vacancy. The publication shall comply with KRS Ch. 424, and shall also include a request that interested candidates submit an application to fill the vacancy. The application shall consist of a signed, written letter to the City Clerk expressing the candidate’s interest in filling the vacancy.
(B) The City Council shall follow the following procedures to fill a vacancy in the office of Council Member.
(1) The City Council and Mayor shall offer all persons who submitted applications to fill the vacancy up to five minutes to address City Council at a public meeting held to fill a vacancy in the office of Council Member.
(2) The City Council shall follow the following procedure when voting to fill a vacancy in the office of Council Member.
(a) If a candidate ran in the preceding regular election, the City Council shall vote on such candidate first. If more than one candidate ran in the preceding election, the City Council shall vote on the candidate who received the most votes of the unsuccessful candidates in the preceding regular election.
(b) If a candidate is not selected pursuant to division (B)(2)(a), the City Council may vote on any remaining candidates. No preference shall be given to a candidate based on when the candidate expressed her/her intent to apply for the vacancy.
(C) The procedure set forth in division (B) shall not apply to the filling of a vacancy in the office of the Mayor. With the exception of the procedures set forth in division (A) and in the Kentucky Revised Statutes, the City Council is not bound by any procedure with respect to the filling of a vacancy in the office of the Mayor.
(Ord. 2, 2018, passed 2-12-2018)