Monterey Town Council Appoints New Member

During a hastily called emergency meeting last Thursday evening, the Monterey Town Council took action to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Cody Cohen, who was elected to the position in 2014.

Mayor Rich Holman entered the name of town resident Denise Simmons for nomination. He noted Simmons has lived in town since 1997, works for the school system, and had indicated she would be honored to serve. During discussion, council member Jack Killgallen noted resident Richard Robinson had also expressed a willingness to serve in conversation with him. Mr. Killgallen also enquires about the length of term of the appointment. Town Attorney Melissa Dowd informed the council that a special election will need to be held to fill the position, and there is some debate as to when that can be done. It was hoped that it could be piggybacked with the upcoming election, but that is not possible – she had entered a petition with the court for the election, and Judge Franklin has entered the order. They must now wait for word from the state board of elections on when the election can be held, likely in the next six to nine months  – the appointee would occupy that position until that time.

With a motion on the floor to appoint Ms. Simmons, Mr. Killgallen asked that Mr. Robinson’s name be put into consideration – Ms. Dowd felt that this would need to be a different motion. The Board then voted unanimously to appoint Ms. Simmons. It was noted that Mr. Robinson, as all other residents of the town, could place his name on the ballot for the special election if he desired.

One other item of business was discussed, which was the application of a special use permit for Ernie’s Market. The application is for a food processing business to operate at that location. The initial review was to be held at a planning commission meeting later Thursday evening, and Ms. Dowd informed the board that the commission would like to have a joint public hearing to discuss the application on November 19^th, and asked the council to attend, since they were the governing body making the ultimate decision, not the Board of Supervisors.