How Raleigh plans to fill former City Council member Saige Martin’s seat
People interested in filling the Raleigh City Council’s vacant seat will have to submit an application and likely participate in a virtual candidates forum.
The City Council met Tuesday to outline its plan for filling the District D seat, which covers southwest Raleigh.
Saige Martin, who was elected to the seat last year, resigned Friday after The News & Observer reported four men’s detailed accusations of sexual misconduct against him. Two said Martin sexually assaulted them. Martin mostly disputes the misconduct allegations and denies the assaults.
Applications will be available at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and people will have until 4 p.m. July 10 to apply online at raleighnc.gov.
Applicants must:
- Be at least 21 years old
- Be registered to vote in Wake County and
- Have lived in District D within the last 30 days.
The council voted to hold a virtual candidates forum at 3 p.m. July 12. If there are just a few candidates everyone may be able to participate, or the council could vote for just its top candidates to appear.
“I think we have an opportunity here to bring more diversity to the council, so that is one thing I am looking at,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin before Tuesday’s meeting. “I am looking at somebody’s skill set. Whether they have experience in government. What their passion is and what they want to bring to the table and how they would work with other council members.”
A woman of color has never served on the board.
“This has been a very difficult time for all of us, I know,” Baldwin said. “We have a lot of very qualified, smart, passionate people in District D and I look forward to seeing what happens in this process and who emerges as candidates. And I would, quite frankly, encourage anybody who is passionate about serving to please apply.”
The council normally takes a summer break in July and August, Baldwin said, so this will give the new council member time to go through orientation and meet city staff members before their first council meeting.
Former City Council member wants seat for short term
A petition, with nearly 1,000 signatures, asks the council to appoint former Council member Kay Crowder. Crowder served on the council from 2014 until Martin unseated her in the 2019 election.
“I am humbled by that support and I would be honored to serve out the remaining months of the term if asked to do so,” she said in a statement. “However, if appointed, I would also commit not to run for re-election to that office. Serving our community has been one of the great honors of my life and it would a privilege to do so again during this difficult time.”
Brittany Bryan, who placed third for the seat in 2019, said people have reached out to her and she is considering applying.
April Parker, the fourth-place finisher, did not respond to a text message or email from The N&O Tuesday.
Crowder said she was “shocked and distressed” by the allegations made against Martin and her “heart goes out to those who have been hurt.”
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman asked the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation to review the allegations against Martin on Monday.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 2:32 PM with the headline "How Raleigh plans to fill former City Council member Saige Martin’s seat."
