When Ferndale Councilmember Jon Mutchler is sworn in as Mayor of Ferndale at the January 4th city council meeting, his seat on the Ferndale City Council will become vacant. In anticipation of this, city staff have been accepting applications up until end-of-day yesterday, December 28th.
According to City Clerk Susan Duncan, the following have applied for the seat on the council:
Victor Boulos, Jr.
Matthew Durkee
Michael “Mick” Jolly
Fred Kennedy
Andrew “Drew” Paterson
Manuel Reta
Cathy Watson
The procedure during the council meeting will be for each candidate to briefly introduce themselves to the councilmembers in 1 to 2 minutes. Then councilmembers will briefly interview each candidate. Later, in executive session (not open to the public so council will move temporarily to the jury room adjacent to council chambers), the councilmembers will discuss the candidates’ qualifications. Afterwards, the council will return to chambers to reconvene the regular meeting, make their nominations and then vote on the nominees.
In the event of a tie, the Mayor can cast the tie-breaking vote. If a candidate can be selected by majority vote during the meeting, they will be sworn in immediately and begin serving the remainder of the term, which expires December 31, 2017.