Stanford resigns, council to fill seat within 120 days
City council must fill Stanford's vacated seat within 120 days of his May 24 resignation, which is due to his responsibilities outside of council
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City council has a seat to fill after Jimmy Stanford, city council Place 3, resigned from city council May 24.
The seat must be filled within 120 days of the date of the resignation either by appointment from city council or by a special election, according to Texas State law.
In his letter of resignation, Stanford stated the responsibilities of his full-time position outside of city council have become too great for him to be as present as he feels he should be to serve.
“It would not be fair to the Citizens, Staff, or Council for me to occupy a seat and not being physically present to provide meaningful insight and direction,” Stanford stated.
Stanford contacted Mayor Chris Fletcher before sending in his resignation, Fletcher said. Fletcher supported Stanford’s decision.
Victoria Johnson, city council Place 1, said she respects Stanford’s decision to not serve on council while his attention is needed elsewhere because “sitting in the seat requires having a pulse in the community.”
Johnson doesn’t support holding a special election for the vacated seat and would prefer to appoint someone for the sake of continuity and because of the time and money necessary to hold the election. Dan McClendon, city council Place 5 and mayor pro-tem, also said he wouldn’t support holding a special election.
Fletcher said he wants to fill the seat quickly because he doesn’t want the process to hold up any of the city’s projects. Fletcher is confident the city can handle filling the seat within 120 days.
With council preparing to set the budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Johnson and McClendon prefer to appoint someone with previous council experience.
Council is set to acknowledge and accept Stanford’s resignation at its meeting Monday at City Hall. That will be council’s first opportunity to speak about how the seat will be filled.
Who do you want to see fill the vacated city council seat?
Maybe some of the runner ups in the past election should throw their hats in the running for the new vacated position. Seems like an easy transition to me.
Agree with the comment above. Has the mayor given any hints on who he may appoint?