Council to Try Again to Appoint New Council Member

The Elk Grove City Council has two choices this week: appoint a new member to sit on the council or authorize half a million dollar expense to ask voters to choose one.

A vacancy on the five-seat council was created by Gary Davis' election as mayor, and the council tried to pick a candidate to fill it two weeks ago but couldn't agree.

and was unable to choose a citizen to represent District 4. This Wednesday, the council members will try again.

Their choices are:

• 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, removed himself from the running at the Jan. 9 meeting. Immediately after he announced that, Council Member Pat Hume nominated him to fill the seat and the council deadlocked 2-2 on his appointment.

Anyone appointed to the seat will serve until Dec. 2014, when Davis' former term expires. 

If the council fails to choose a candidate, the earliest a special election could be called to choose one would be June 4, according to a staff report. The report estimates a special election would cost $550,000–the equivalent of $5 to $7 per registered voter in the city.

The Elk Grove City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at 8400 Laguna Palms Way.

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