Durham City Council changes course on filling Ward 3 seat. What changed their minds.
The Durham City Council will postpone filling the vacant Ward 3 seat until at least August.
The council unanimously voted Monday night to rescind a three-week timeline it had approved to replace Vernetta Alston, who resigned to make an early transition to the 29th District seat in the state House of Representatives.
The council plans to pick the discussion back up at its Aug. 6 work session.
The vote came after council member Mark-Anthony Middleton asked the group to reconsider its April 6 vote. He expressed concern about holding an appointment process that might exclude people stressed by the coronavirus pandemic and who may not be able to connect to the virtual meetings.
Middleton and council member DeDreana Freeman had expressed concern about the plan to appoint someone by May 4 when the council approved it by a 5-2 vote.
“I believe if we implement this plan under emergency orders, that we are potentially inviting a master class on what it looks like to have privilege insulate you from hardship,” Middleton said then.
But council member Charlie Reece argued at the April 6 meeting that the city’s charter required them to attempt to fill the seat within 60 days. If not, it would trigger a special election.
Before that meeting, the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People had already called for filling the seat with a special election. Later, two of Durham’s other political action committees, The People’s Alliance and the Friends of Durham, also issued statements urging the council to consider other options.
The discussion that followed, which included Middleton’s announcing he would ask the council to reconsider, led to the discovery of a second path the council could take.
City Attorney Kimberly Rehberg told council members Monday that a state statute gives them the option of filling the vacant seat within a reasonable amount of time and doesn’t require the 60-day deadline.
“I think access is one of our most sacred values and cherished values, and we now have an opportunity ... to look for other ways to continue to fight for who we are,” Middleton said.
The council voted to follow the statute. If members can’t come to an agreement, the seat will remain vacant until the next municipal election, which is set for Nov. 2, 2021.
Reece, who is the chair of the council procedures committee, said he wasn’t previously aware of the state law option.
Had he known about the option, he said, he would have recommended that path two weeks ago.
“I think proceeding under the state statute is the most reasonable course for us now,” Reece said.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
