CRESWELL – While the “who” is still in question, the “when” has been determined: a mayor will be chosen on Nov. 1 for the City of Creswell.
The mayoral position has been vacant since Amy Knudsen’s resignation on Aug. 13. Since then, the council voted to open the application process to community members. So far, two people have announced their candidacies, including council president and acting mayor Kevin Prociw and former three-term mayor Dave Stram.
The timeline for the appointment is as follows:
— Oct. 11: Application opens for the mayor position, and for the vacant city council position.
— Oct. 22: Application deadline for the mayor position. The city council application will remain open until after a mayor is chosen.
— Nov. 1: Mayoral candidate interviews will be held at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Council will deliberate and a new mayor will be selected at this meeting.
— Nov. 8: The selected candidate will be officially sworn into their position, and will assume all responsibilities of the mayor.
Prociw, Stram and any other candidates who might apply will be interviewed by council on Nov. 1, and the decision will be made by a majority council vote that evening. A candidate will need to secure at least three of the four votes from councilors Alonzo Costilla, Misty Inman, Jeri Hutchinson and Shelly Clark in order to win the seat. Prociw cannot vote due to a conflict of interest, as he is running for the position.
The City Council also deliberated on how to prioritize filling the open positions, as JoeRell Medina, a councilor who was voted into the seat in November 2020, resigned two weeks ago, leaving that position vacant, too.
Stram, who sat in the audience Monday night, asked if the council would want the new mayor to be part of the selection process for the next councilor.
“I think it’s in the city’s best interest to have a mayor, to figure out what’s going on there first,” councilor Clark said, adding that if Prociw is appointed mayor, there will be another open position for the council to fill.
Council agreed it will prioritize filling the mayor position before it fills the open council seat, which, according to city manager Michelle Amberg, hasn’t gained much interest yet.
As of Monday, Amberg said she had not heard any interest in the council position.
The application for the council seat will open on Oct. 11 and will remain open until council selects a deadline after the mayoral appointment.
