City Council Special

Mayor Barney expressed his appreciation for the candidates being there and their willingness to serve the City.  The purpose of the closed session is to discuss character and competence of the candidates but they do not talk about who each person is going to vote for.  The Mayor and Council Members try to be fair and objective. He asked each City Council Member for discussion on the City Council candidates.
Council Member Elwell stated that this is a win/win situation for the City no matter who is chosen. He indicated the candidates are very qualified. He places a lot of confidence in the voters and the Planning Commission. He supports Chris Hart as a new member of the City Council, based on his involvement in the community since he came into office in 2000.  He has seen and heard the arguments that Chris Hart makes on the Planning Commission. He expressed that he would be pleased to serve with any of the Planning Commission members and all the other applicants.
Council Member Foot commented that he had empathy for the candidates because he was in the same position seven (7) years ago when he was appointed.  He has based his criteria on his circumstances.  He attended Planning Commission and City Council a year or more prior to getting involved with City government.  In 1999 he served on the Design Guidelines Committee with Chris Hart and indicated Chris has put the City’s best interest above his own.  He indicated there are three (3) viable candidates that are committed and have served the City for an extended period of time through committees or on the Planning Commission. He concurred with Council Member Elwell in support of Chris Hart as the new City Council Member.
Council Member Jolley stated he concurs with the comments made by Council Member Elwell and Council Member Foot.  He expressed appreciation to all of the candidates for their interest and willingness to serve.  One factor in this is that there was an election held previously where three (3) of the City Council Members were seated and one was not. The individual that was not seated was Steve Roberts and he lost the election by a small margin. He indicated that the voice of the people needs to be given some weight. He stated he has personally worked closely with Steve Roberts for two years and that he is a man of high integrity and is a person who is willing to put in the time and effort to complete a project. He expressed support for Steve Roberts as the new City Council Member.
Council Member Rusick indicated she is impressed with the caliber of candidates and feels that the appointment of a new City Council Member should be someone serving on the Planning Commission. She served on the Planning Commission before she ran for office and attended all of the City Council meetings during that time.  Anyone that has served for a long time on the Planning Commission is a good candidate to be a City Council member.  Her personal candidate of choice is Lesley Mendenhall because she has served the City longer than any other candidate that is proposed for office.  She indicated that Lesley volunteered and successfully ran a benefit for an unfortunate situation at Red Mountain Spa and has been involved in the creation of the Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan. She also recommends Lesley Mendenhall due to her business and professional expertise.
Mayor Barney stated that from the discussion there are two (2) in support of Chris Hart, one (1) in support of Steve Roberts and one (1) in support of Lesley Mendenhall. Dale Coulam explained that the Council could continue discussions but that the appointment would be made by a motion and then a vote would be taken.  The motion requires three (3) votes for the motion to pass.  In the case of a tie, the Mayor would vote to break the tie. If motion fails, the Council would need to see if there was another motion.

Council Member Elwell	AYE
Council Member Foot	AYE
Council Member Jolley	AYE
Council Member Rusick	AYE