Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/bruce-whitaker/)
The former city councilwoman fills a roughly two-year term after council members weeded through 23 applicants and despite calls by residents to hold a special election.
The four-member Council potentially will decide on one of the 25 applicants for the seat, including three former council members and the Santa Ana City Attorney.
Fullerton residents may see the vacant City Council seat filled by an appointment rather than a special election after the Council voted to move forward with an appointment process. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to appoint someone, but it does mean we’re looking at candidates,” Mayor Jesus Silva said. “If, at the end of the day, we cannot agree on someone, then it goes … to a special election and we start the campaign season again for those of you who are interested.”
According to state law, the City has until Feb. 2 to appoint someone to fill the vacancy, or a special election will automatically be held Nov.
Many Orange County cities are struggling to maintain budgets that keep, or minimally cut services and employees, while trying to keep up with growing law enforcement and fire pension spending.
Fullerton residents will have to wait until at least Jan. 15 to find out if a City Council vacancy will be filled by special election or appointment after the current four-member council deadlocked on the issue.
The Fullerton City Council clarified what emergency homeless shelters are at religious institutions after it amended its ordinance and added an application process so it can keep an inventory of beds in the city.
The Fullerton City Council can either hold a special election or appoint someone to fill Councilman Jesus Silva’s at-large seat after he won the District 3 seat this month.
Fullerton City Council members will continue to directly appoint people to the five-member Library Board of Trustees after the Council decided not to change the appointment process.
The Fullerton City Council unanimously voted to abandon taking over the city’s Library Board of Trustees after council members received a flood of emails from residents who voiced their opposition to the move.
Pathways of Hope will have to do at least three months of community outreach in Fullerton before the City Council considers an agreement to move forward on a homeless housing proposal on city-owned land.