Arcata Mayor Brett Watson may resign from council, agenda suggests

Arcata announced a special meeting of the city council Wednesday night in which it will be discussing the selection of a new mayor and vice mayor.

“With a mid-term vacancy of the mayor’s position, the council will consider the election of a new mayor and vice mayor,” states the agenda for the meeting, set for 5:59 p.m. Wednesday night.

While all other members of the council are listed on the agenda, Brett Watson’s name is conspicuously absent.

“Communication with the mayor right now is the need for some additional personal time,” Arcata city manager Karen Diemer told the Times-Standard.

She said the city is in the “preliminary” stages and that no resignation is official at this point.

“If additional information comes forward, we will certainly record that out,” she added.

Diemer said she could not respond to whether the move is tied to Watson’s arrest in early August on suspicion of driving under the influence and drug possession. In the wake of the arrest, Watson issued a statement in which he admitted to struggling with the one-year anniversary of his father’s death.

“I take full responsibility for the results of the arrest while recognizing the importance of seeking treatment to support my mental health,” a portion of the statement said.

Brett Watson was appointed to the Arcata City Council to fill a vacancy left by Mark Wheetley, who was appointed city manager in Fortuna. He was elected in 2019. His current term was expected to go through December 2021.

Diemer would not speculate on the next moves of the city to either appoint a new member or hold an election. If Watson leaves the position, the city would need to make a decision in 60 days as to which path to take. In recent years, city councils have often opted to appoint new members rather than hold special elections which can be costly.

Diemer said “many, many years ago” the city paid close to $30,000 for a special election. She noted it’s also possible to have the new member elected by consolidating with the next regular election. In this case, that could potentially be the June 2022 California primary, but that would leave the council down one member for more than seven months.

She added the last presidential election cost close to $24,000 because of new mail-in ballot rules.

Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.