Search begins for interim councilmember
Council will have until May 13 to appoint someone to the seat vacated by Sean Ashton. Photo by Alex Dominguez
DOWNEY - The City of Downey will seek applications for an interim council member to fill the currently vacant District 2 seat.
The vacant seat will need to be filled by May 13, or 60 days after former councilman Sean Ashton’s official resignation on March 14.
Ashton stepped down from the council, citing a job promotion.
While there is no legal requirement for the council to follow any specific method of appointment, it is common practice for a council in this situation to post a notice of vacancy and invite applications.
Council would then go through an interviewing process with each applicant, all in the context of a public hearing.
The application window officially opened on Wednesday, and will close on April 6 at noon.
Only those 18 and older, residing and registered to vote in District 2 will be able to apply. Should the council fail to agree on a successor by the deadline, the seat would remain vacant and the successor would be decided at the general election.
When posed with the option to either seek an interim successor or leave the seat empty for the time being, the council voted 3-1 in favor of the former option with Mayor Blanca Pacheco opposed.
Pacheco said she didn’t want to subject council meetings and residents to “more turmoil.”
“My personal opinion is we should leave it up to the voters in District 2, for them to elect their representative come November,” said Pacheco. “There’s a lot of chaos in this city, and it should be up to you, the voters.”
Councilwoman Claudia Frometa would say that the council had the ability to “appoint someone that can help us continue to move our city forward.”
“There is a lot of disruption, and it could seem as if there is a lot of chaos, however it is up to us as a council to be the calming voice of our residents and move our city in a uniting way,” said Frometa. “We will always disagree because that is just the nature of being human, and in November somebody will officially occupy that seat. But having said that, there has been a couple of times before where the council has been faced with this difficult decision, and I think they’ve done the right thing.”
There have been two instances where previous Downey councils would fill a vacancy.
Pacheco suggested that the council was not on the same page, describing she and her colleagues as “a council divided.”
“My concern is that we won’t all agree on who [the appointee] will be,” said Pacheco. “It will be very difficult, and we’ll be subjecting the residents to more disagreements because we can’t all agree.”
There are already potential suitors.
Former Mayor Mario Guerra emailed the council last week expressing his willingness to step in to the position for the remainder of the term.
“I feel I could help bring some of my experience to our city for this short appointment period. I have no political agenda except to serve and help move our city forward,” Guerra wrote. “From economic development to infrastructure to businesses retention and recruitment, these are some of the things I could potentially assist the council in a short period of time.
“I do not plan on initiating any new items that would take away staff time from the directions you have started. I'm not interested in trying to undo any of the initiatives the council has already started or instigated.”
While Guerra could be appointed to the seat temporarily, he would not be eligible to run in November, having already served two terms.
Gangs out of Downey President Hector Sosa – who has already announced his intention to run for the seat on the upcoming ballot – is also eyeing the appointment.
“I’m going full speed ahead for November, but I’m definitely going to try to fill that seat in the interim,” said Sosa.