The City Council on Monday night approved the appointment of at-large Councilman Dave Johnson to the vacant West District council seat.
Johnson, who already is running unopposed in April for the remaining two years of former Councilman Grant Eckhoff’s West District term, resigned his at-large seat to seek council appointment to the West District seat.
Now the council must fill the remaining four months of Johnson’s at-large term, which expires in early May. Under state law, the city has 60 days to appoint a replacement for the at-large seat. Some suburbs, however, have gone months without appointing replacements to council vacancies.
Although incumbent at-large Councilman Mike Gresk and three newcomers are running for two open at-large seats in April’s municipal election, Mayor Jim Carr said the council intends to fill the vacancy with an outsider to avoid the appearance of favoring one of the newcomers.
