Durham leader to challenge plan to fill City Council vacancy

City Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton will challenge the council’s plan to fill a vacant seat by appointment within the next three weeks.

Middleton says he sent a letter telling council members that on Monday he will propose rescinding the council’s vote last week on a process to to fill ex-member Vernetta Alston’s Ward 3 seat.

The council voted 5-2 to open an application process, interview finalists April 27 and appoint someone May 4.

The council majority approved the appointment process outlined by member Charlie Reece, instead of filling the seat during a special election held at the same time as the general election for president and other races this fall.

Reece said the city charter obligates the city to try to fill the seat and that waiting for an election would leave Ward 3 without representation until the winner takes office in December.

But Middleton, who voted with DeDreana Freeman in the minority, said people think the council is rushing at a time when many are preoccupied by the coronavirus, which has disrupted schedules and put people out of work.

As of Thursday, Durham County had 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services website. Two county residents have died, the website showed.

“I have personally heard from scores of our residents that are concerned about their bandwidth to fully participate in a selection process at this time,” Middleton wrote council members. “I promise each of you that my intentions are fully and wholly informed by my desire to honor the direct request of so many people to whom I feel accountable. To be sure, I know that this is the case for each of us.”

Chapel Hill also has a vacancy on its Town Council, created when former member Rachel Schaevitz and her family moved to New Zealand earlier this year.

Chapel Hill, which also is considering whether to shrink its council from nine to seven seats, has postponed filling Schaevitz’s seat until regular meetings, whether with in-person or remote, public participation, can be held again.

Durham Committee, PA back election

The Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and The People’s Alliance, the city’s chief political groups, have called on the council to fill Alston’s seat by special election.

Alston resigned from the council last week to begin preparing to take a seat held by the late MaryAnn Black in the state House of Representatives.

“Government is accountable when citizens have a role to play in selecting their leaders,” Omar Beasley, chairman of the Durham Committee, wrote in a statement. “Now is just not the time to rush through an appointment to fill an elective office in city of government. Let the people decide.”

The People’s Alliance agreed.

“In a system of representative government, the people should select their council representatives,” its leaders wrote in a statement on the group’s Facebook page.

The city charter allows the council to fill the seat during the general election, they wrote.

“And while we acknowledge that it is not ideal to leave a seat on the council vacant for a number of months, we feel that it is preferable to wait and let the people of Durham — residents of Ward 3 — decide who should fill the seat rather than allowing the City Council to appoint a new councilmember without full public engagement,” they wrote.

Candidates for ward seats must live in the ward they are running in, but all city residents may vote for them.

Middleton said his proposal Monday will offer some kind of compromise, but he would not give details.

“I have thought long and hard about our debate and take seriously the salient points made about fidelity to our city charter, and the potential cost of a special election,” he wrote. “Therefore, my motion to rescind will be tethered to a proposed compromise that I believe could potentially address a myriad of concerns.”

Chapel Hill vacancy

Chapel Hill’s council began meeting virtually earlier this month, but public participation is still limited to emailed comments. Sixteen people have applied for the vacant council seat.

The town’s charter requires the council to appoint someone to complete Schaevitz’s term in office, which ends in December 2021. It also requires the council to review applicants, with the option of making nominations, by its next regular meeting following the application deadline. That would have been on April 1, with a final appointment possible the next week.

Mayor Pam Hemminger emailed the candidates April 6 to let them know that the discussion had been postponed. When the council resumes regular meetings, she said, it first will consider a reduction in the number of council members.

“These are important decisions that deserve significant community engagement and broad public input,” Hemminger said in her email. “Therefore, it is our preference that both discussions should wait until after we can all begin coming together in Council chambers again.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 3:23 PM.