The Elk Grove City Council will have a vacancy for at least two more weeks.
The four people on the council sought to appoint a fifth member Wednesday night, but numerous votes resulted in ties and the group punted the item to its next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 23.
"So we're going to pull the Band-Aid off this slowly and go through this whole thing again in two weeks?" Council Member Pat Hume asked.
The candidates who applied to represent District 4, a seat vacated when Gary Davis was elected mayor in November, were:
- Edward Busuttil, a San Joaquin County Assistant District Attorney. He said safety should be the No. 1 priority of the council, adding government should be "effective and efficient."
- Nancy D. Chaires, an Elk Grove Planning Commissioner who said she works hard to protect the best interests of local residents and wants to ensure they have the best representation possible.
- David Conner, the CEO of RECON Networking, Inc. He said the city should be business-friendly and create job opportunities for residents to work close to home.
- LaWanna Montgomery, a recent mayoral candidate who has run for council two other times. She said her strength lies in working with people.
- Oscar O'con, a business consultant who is involved in several Elk Grove organizations. He named supporting small businesses as one of his highest priorities, and was backed by the chair of the Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.
- Jeffrey Owen, a youth soccer coach and Vice President of Operations at School Innovations & Advocacy. Owen said his top two priorities would be the civic center and Southeast Policy Area.
During Wednesday's meeting, the council voted to appoint Chaires, O'con, Conner and Owens, coming up with a 2-2 tie each time. Each time, the votes split the same way: Davis and Council Member Jim Cooper only voted in favor of Chaires, while Hume and Vice Mayor Steve Detrick voted in favor of each of the three others.
The council members also debated a ranked-choice method of appointment that would have each of them gives points to a first, second and third-choice, and then appoint the candidate who receives the most points. The council tied when voting on whether or not to try that method.
If no decision is reached within 60 days of Davis assuming his position as mayor, the city will be forced to call a special election.
Cooper said his fellow council members should "make a decision and stick by it," so waiting two weeks shouldn't have any effect on the outcome. He said Wednesday's repeated deadlock showed the council should call for a special election.
"I don't want to bring it back," he said.
Community member Michael Monasky, who voiced concerns when the council voted to decide whether it would appoint a new council member or hold a special election, criticized the process.
"I thought this was a democracy," Monasky said. "When a few people decide who should rule, that's an oligarchy."
--
Sign up for the free Elk Grove Patch newsletter | Like Elk Grove Patch on Facebook | Follow @ElkGrovePatch on Twitter | Blog for Elk Grove Patch
Reply
Did you mean Hume and Detrick?
If you look at Gary Davis' past actions, he has been fairly even handed in pushing business development both public and private. He and I may disagree at times on how we bring those businesses in, but he has been very solid pro-business. The question is, now that things are changing, will he continue to walk the middle ground, or will he allow partisanship to creep back into our city. I don't think he will chose the uglier of the roads. I just hope he keeps his plethora of ideas to advance our community in line with our funding ability! As to the person who will replace him... Nancy is a very qualified person. But I can tell you that Dave Conner is as well. Oscar O'con has put a lot of time into our community, and would be an asset as well. If the Council can't agree on a replacement, I think the race could be interesting. Yes, Nancy would have an advantage in having access to Gary's political machine, but that is true now and 2 years from now. The others need to be prepared for the opportunity.
We did not elect the Chamber of Commerce to run our city. I have had less than satisfactory interactions with them over the years because they have a singular focus - business interests should prevail at all costs, ignore the wishes of the residents. I will be happy to detail these instances if anyone wants to hear about it.
Politicians that don't have a plan, agenda, whatever you want to call it, probably shouldn't be elected. Hopefully their "plans" coincide with the public good. I believe these folks all have plans, and that, for the most part, they are working towards the public good. We may disagree on the plan, but that doesn't make it necessarily bad.
The idea that this council is dominated by the Democratic party and supported by the unions is ludicrous. The idea that the Firefighters have played an overwhelming role in city politics is ludicrous. If you think they have -- please tell me how it is that they do so without providing significant funding to the candidates, except in 2006.
Yes, I'm fully aware of independent expenditures ... all of which must also be reported. Those reports show that firefighters were heavily involved in one election and one only. Again, you believe Firefighters have played a major role in city politics ... the way they do that is by funding candidates in elections. They have been virtually non-existent in EG council elections with the exception of one year. If you have actual facts to suggest otherwise, feel free to share them. But continuing to repeat the same thing without actually backing it up with those facts ... well, hate to say it, but it's a straw man. It's really kind of funny actually having to argue about whether or not EG is business friendly. Virtually every person I know who lives in EG would disagree with that sentiment, considering the rampant and unfettered development that went on until the Great Recession.