Jim Tate
The Highlands Board of Commissioners discussed board vacancies in light of the July 31 resignation of commissioner Brian Stiehler during their meeting last week. Stiehler had served as a commissioner for 14 years but stepped down because he moved outside the town, making him ineligible to continue serving.
Filing opened Aug. 11 for candidates seeking to fill the two years remaining on Stiehler’s term and closed at noon Aug. 22. Voting will take place during the Nov. 4 general election.
Only one candidate, Jim Tate, filed. Tate previously served as a Macon County commissioner representing District 1 for more than a decade. He left the board in 2022.
The November ballot will still have a space for write-in candidates.
In a story published Aug. 7, The Highlander reported Mayor Pat Taylor said there will be a special election to fill Stiehler’s remaining two years. “He resigned well before 90 days, which is the cutoff to have a special election for an unfilled position,” the mayor said.
While a special election will take place, Taylor brought up scenarios in which the board itself might have to appoint someone to fill an unexpired term.
If someone were to resign with 23 or 22 months remaining on their term, an appointment would probably be in order rather than go with a four-person board, he said. “But,” he said, “if someone resigns within five months or six months, do we just continue to the next election or make a decision to appoint?”
Taylor noted that there had been discussion before about having the person who got the second most votes in the election fill the vacancy. He said that this step is not within state law and that it’s never been a formal town policy as a means of filling a vacancy.
Taylor then pointed to what he sees as a weakness to this method of filling a vacant seat on the board. By example, what if the candidate who won the seats received 230 votes while the second-place finisher received 30 and the third-place finisher received 20 votes.
“Would that mean the person with 30 is automatically appointed?” he asked.
There was also some discussion about seeking applications to fill board vacancies outside of the special election window.
No action was taken as the special election is already set, but the mayor did point out that filling a vacancy will be up to the board in the event a commissioner steps down within a 22- or 24-month timeframe before his or her term expires.
In the interim, the vacancy will not affect the board’s ability to conduct business, as the remaining four commissioners make up a quorum. In the case of a tie vote, the mayor casts the deciding vote.
- Richard Whiting
rwhiting@cninewspapers.com