Council to Revisit Vacancy Issue

For a fourth consecutive meeting, the Moorpark City Council on Wednesday will consider how the city should go about replacing council members and mayors who leave office before their terms are over.

The city's current ordinance regarding the issue has to be updated because it no longer is in compliance with state codes.

Per the council's request, city staff has drafted two options for Wednesday's meeting that would comply with state code provisions. One option would require that a special election be called to fill both council and mayoral seats with a special election to be held on the next regularly established election date with that election occurring no sooner than 114 days from the call of the special election.

The second proposed option, which would apply to council members but not the mayor, would make an election mandatory to fill vacant seats. An empty mayor's seat, however, would be filled by appointment.

The council first addressed the update at its December meeting when it considered an ordinance that would let the city council decide whether to appoint some to fill the seat or to hold a special election.

When the ordinance returned for a second reading at the Jan. 4 council meeting, Council member Roseann Mikos, who did not support the proposed ordinance and instead preferred a mandatory election to fill the seats, suggested a compromise that would provide residents the opportunity to petition for a mandatory election. The council voted to move forward with the compromise, but at the Jan. 18 meeting, it agreed to reconsider the ordinance.

After hearing from 15 speakers at the meeting who supported a mandatory election (and one speaker who wanted to give the option to the council), the council asked city staff to draft options that would require that.

If the council votes for one of these options, it will return for a second reading at its next meeting and would go into effect 30 days from then.

The council will also consider applicants for a vacant library seat and providing comments on unmet transit needs to the county transportation commission.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall at 799 Moorpark Ave. To see the full agenda, visit the City of Moorpark's website.