The Stuart Town Council is working to fill a seat by the end of the month, after it became vacant when previous Mayor Ray Weiland decided not to seek reelection during last year’s election.
During the 2024 election, three current councilmembers were on the ballot for the seat which was won by Terry Dalton. Because of his victory, Dalton moved to the mayoral seat and vacated the one he held.
According to the Code of Virginia, within 45 days of the vacancy, a local governing body may appoint a qualified voter to fill the vacancy “or the circuit court does it based on some names submitted by the council,” Town Attorney Chris Corbett said, He added the vacancy period started January 1.
To meet the deadline, the council set Friday, January 24 as the deadline to accept applications from those interested in filling the empty council seat. At the January 15 meeting, Town Manager Bryce Simmons said he had already received three applications.
“It may be that council wants the applicants to schedule a time to come in and be interviewed,” Corbett said.
Simmons said interviews can be scheduled after the application deadline. “Just as part of that, we’d probably only want two councilmembers performing interviews, because if we get three in, we’d have to advertise” a council meeting, he said.
Three members is considered a quorum.
Councilmember Dave Hoback said he doesn’t like the idea of only two council members performing the interviews.
“I think we should have a called meeting with everyone, do the interviews boom-boom-boom, and then we can go into closed session to” make our decision, council member Rebecca Adcock said.
The council scheduled a called town council meeting for Wednesday, January 29 at 7 p.m.
In other matters, the council:
*Heard a review of the Star Theatre in 2024 and its 2025 agenda from One Family Productions (OFP) Executive Director Chris Prutting and Director Sarah Wray.
*Approved amending OFP’s current lease of $300 per month for the Star Theatre for 2025.
*Appointed Dave Hoback as vice-mayor.
*Heard a breakdown of the 2024 Stuart Volunteer Fire Department call history.
*Heard an update on public works projects.
*Discussed receiving a presentation if the 2024 audit.
*Approved the meeting minutes.
*Paid the bills as amended.
