Clearlake council declines appointments, lets November elections proceed for two council seats and treasurer

The Clearlake City Council on a special meeting declined to appoint two incumbent council candidates and a city treasurer, allowing the scheduled November elections for two council seats and the treasurer to proceed.

City Clerk Melissa told the council staff had received complete nomination papers from incumbents Dirk Sloten and Russ Kremer for the two council seats and that, because the number of candidates equaled the number of available offices, the council had the option to appoint those candidates in lieu of holding an election. Melissa warned, however, that state rules restrict appointments that would result in a majority of the council being appointed rather than elected.

"According to the Clear Lake Municipal Code, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of city treasurer, the city manager is automatically appointed to fill the vacancy until a successor is appointed or elected," Melissa said, describing the city's existing procedure for filling a treasurer vacancy.

Council members debated the trade-offs. Vice Mayor Purdock and others said appointing the incumbents would save the city election costs but could remove the council's flexibility to fill a future vacancy by appointment, forcing a potentially costly special election. After discussion the council determined it would not take action before the appointment deadline and therefore the regular election process will continue.

Melissa clarified the administrative timeline and write-in requirements: the deadline to appoint in lieu of an election is August 25; the write-in candidate period "opens on September 12 and would continue through October 25," and a write-in candidate must be a registered voter of the city and collect between 20 and 30 signatures of qualified voters to qualify.

The council did not take a formal roll-call vote on a resolution to appoint candidates; by declining to act before the stated deadline the council allowed the scheduled elections and the write-in process to proceed. The council may revisit structural changes — including placing a measure before voters to convert the treasurer to an appointed position — during a future election cycle; Melissa said a similar measure failed in 2016 and it is too late to place such a measure on the current cycle's ballot.

Next steps: the write-in period and signature thresholds will be handled through the city's election consolidation with Lake County; voters and potential candidates seeking more information were directed to contact the city clerk's office.