Stow City Council seat remains vacant midway to deadline for panel to select appointee
Stow City Council again delayed choosing a replacement to fill a vacant seat at its Thursday meeting, but there is still some time before the power to make that appointment transfers to the mayor.
Meanwhile, some in the city are questioning whether Council should have the authority to appoint someone to fill an entire term.
The vacancy is due to the unexpected death of Dennis Altieri, who died in November shortly after he was re-elected to represent Ward 1 and before he was sworn into his second term. His replacement will serve the entirety of his two-year term.
Council received nine applications from Ward 1 residents, and was expected to choose a replacement at a Jan. 3 organizational meeting. Council, however, requested more information from the candidates, and Council President Jeremy McIntire instructed members to reach out to the candidates and conduct their own research.
Council met again on Jan. 6, 13 and 20, but made no decisions regarding the vacancy.
According to the Stow City Charter, Council has 45 days to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The clock started when the term commenced Jan. 1, placing the deadline at Feb. 14.
If Council does not make a decision by then, the power to do so then rolls over to Mayor John Pribonic.
Pribonic is not required to pick one of the candidates who submitted resumes to Council, but he said he "would definitely pick from that pool. There are many qualified candidates in there, and these people turned in their resumes and want to serve on Council to make our city better."
While the charter outlines who has the power to fill the vacancy and when, it does not specify the process by which an appointee is chosen.
Law Director Jaime Syx said because the process is also not specified in the codified ordinances, each Council decides how to fill a vacancy. Council is also not required to vote to determine the process, and so the council president can make the decision.
Under McIntire, Stow Council is reviewing resumes and conducting research, but is not interviewing candidates as a body.
New at-large Councilman David Licate said he would have liked to have had interviews, but was outnumbered.
He added that other cities have more structured processes for filling vacancies — like in Akron, where special elections are held, or Green, where applicants must first gather a certain number of signatures on a petition of candidacy. Stow Council races are nonpartisan, but in partisan cities like Tallmadge, vacancies are filled by the party precinct committee.
"When I was made aware that we would fill the full two-year term, it did kind of shock me," said Licate, a Ward 1 resident. "I'm fearful we're disenfranchising Ward 1 voters. I thought [the appointed term] was until the next election in November, but there is no provision for a special election."
That sentiment was shared by Ward 1 resident Mike Daniels, who suggested that Council initiate a charter amendment to give residents more power in vacancy appointments — particularly when it is for the entire term — by holding a special election or by shortening the term.
"I'd like to have some say in who represents me for two years," he said. "You've changed other things [in the charter] that seem arbitrary. This is a big thing."
Licate said he looked into initiating a charter amendment, but doesn't believe he has enough support on Council.
"They stated that we only have two-year terms, so by the time you have a special election, you might as well wait until the next municipal election. And they argue that special elections are expensive," he said. "You really have this debate between disenfranchising part of your city and having expensive elections. But democracy is important, and people should have a say in who's representing them."
Reporter Krista S. Kano can be reached at 330-541-9416, kkano@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Stow council vacancy remains halfway to deadline for appointment
