The Jefferson County Council will wait until after the August election to fill the vacancy created by Tracey Perry’s resignation.
Perry resigned on April 11 amid questions about her residency in District 5. She was in the final year of a four-year term.
Under the county charter, the remaining members of the council are tasked with filling a vacancy, as long as the replacement belongs to the same political party as the previous member.
No timelines or procedures for filling vacancies are spelled out in the charter.
The council voted unanimously May 10 to wait until after the results of the Aug. 2 election are final and appoint the winner of the Republican Party’s primary election to fill the final four months of Perry’s term. The winner then would be sworn in to a full four-year term early in 2023.
Scott Seek, Tony Pousosa and Robert “Bobby” Kaye are running for the Republican Party’s nomination for the District 5 seat. Because no Democrats are running, the council can appoint the winner because their will be no contested race in the November election.
Council chair Phil Hendrickson (District 3, Arnold) said he was surprised but pleased by the unanimous vote.
“I was expecting a split vote on it because we had a lot of debate on it. Some of the council didn’t want to leave District 5 unrepresented for so long,” he said. “But if you think about it, to go through the process to advertise for a replacement, sort through applications and then interview and vote on a replacement, that would take about seven weeks. And who would we get who would want to serve just through the end of the year? We couldn’t consider any of the candidates in the election.”
Hendrickson said that delaying the decision until after the August election would allow District 5 residents to choose Perry’s replacement.
“Yes, the seat will be vacant for three months, but for the next five months, it will be someone the people want,” he said.
Assistant county counselor Jason Cordes suggested the council hold a special meeting as soon as practical after the election to swear in the winner so he could attend the next regular meeting as a council member.