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Home My WebLink AboutSpecial 2024-01-08 Item 6D - City Council - Council Vacancy Interview and Appointment ProcessCOUNCIL AGENDA SYNOPSIS CI- �,;,,-, 4 f Initials ITEM NO. O 4s Meeting Date Prepared by Mayor's review Council review 1*,143 O 1/8/24 LH 6.D. \\......., 1908 ITEM INFORMATION STAFF SPONSOR: LAUREL HUMPHREY ORIGINAL AGENDA DATE: 1/8/24 AGENDA ITEM TITLE City Council Position 3 Vacancy Interview and Appointment Process CATEGORY 11 Mtg Discussion Date 1/8/24 ❑ Motion Mtg Date ❑ Resolution Altg Date ❑ Ordinance Mtg Date ❑ Bid Award Mtg Date ❑ Public Hearing Mtg Date ❑ Other Mtg Date SPONSOR .1 Council ❑ Mayor ❑ Admin Svcs ❑ DCD ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ P&R ❑ Police ❑ PW SPONSOR'S Position No. 3 on the City Council is currently vacant for the remaining two years of the SUMMARY term. It is the Council's responsibility to appoint an individual within 90 days of the vacancy. The City Council is asked to discuss the process and proposed interview questions. REVIEWED BY ❑ Trans&Infrastructure Svcs ❑ Community Svcs/Safety ❑ Finance & Governance ❑ Planning & Community Dev. ❑ LTAC ❑ Arts Comm. ❑ Parks Comm. ❑ Planning Comm. DATE: COMMITTEE CHAIR: RECOMMENDATIONS: SPONSOR/ADMIN. COMMITTEE COST IMPACT / FUND SOURCE EXPENDITURE REQUIRED AMOUNT BUDGETED APPROPRIATION REQUIRED $ $ Fund Source: Comments: MTG. DATE RECORD OF COUNCIL ACTION MTG. DATE ATTACHMENTS 1/8/24 Information memo dated 1/2/24 13 14 City of Tukwila INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Tukwila City Council FROM: Laurel Humphrey, Legislative Analyst DATE: January 2, 2024 SUBJECT: Appointment Process for Council Position No. 3 Vacancy ISSUE As a result of the November 7, 2023 General Election, there is a position vacancy on the Tukwila City Council as of January 1, 2024. DISCUSSION It is the Council's responsibility to appoint an individual to serve the remainder term of Council Position No. 3 through December3l, 2025. City and State law grant the Council's authority to appoint a qualified individual to the vacant office but do not specify how the process must be conducted. According to the City Council Rules of Procedure: To fill the vacancy with the most qualified person available until an election is held, the Council will widely distribute and publish a notice of the vacancy, the procedure, and any application form for applying. The application forms will be used in conjunction with an interview of each candidate to aid the Council selection of the new Councilmember. According to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW 42.12.070): Where one position is vacant, the remaining members of the governing body shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacant position. Additionally, the Council must appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy within 90 days of the occurrence of the vacancy, or the authority to appoint will be transferred to King County. It is in the best interest of Tukwila forthe Council to conduct a fair, reasonable and transparent process to appoint the most qualified individual to Tukwila City Council Position No. 3. Timeline 12/6/23 Publication of Official Notice of Intent to Fill Vacancy by Appointment Application information available online 12/22/23 Applications due by 5:00 p.m. 12/23/23 Applications distributed to 2024 Councilmembers 1/8/24 Process review scheduled for first Council meeting of year TBD Interviews Day 1 TBD Interviews Day 2 and possible exec session, nomination and vote TBD Additional meeting day if Council needs more time TBD Position 3 appointee sworn in Applications 15 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 2 The application period closed on December 22, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. 11 applications were received by 5:00 p.m. and one application was received following the deadline. All applications were distributed to 2024 Councilmembers in hard and electronic copy. Staff worked with King County Elections to verify eligibility and all but one candidate were determined to be eligible. Interviews Candidate interviews will be conducted at special meetings tentatively scheduled for January 9 and 10, 2024. Interviews will be limited to 30 minutes each, including five minutes at the beginning for the candidate to provide a brief introduction and overview of qualifications. The remaining time will be spent on questions. Each Councilmember will ask one question of the applicant in order of seniority. Councilmembers will be given optional rating forms to assist in their individual evaluation of each candidate. Rating forms are public records and should be retained by the Councilmember or Legislative Analyst. Draft questions proposed by staff: 1. Introduce yourself, including your interest in being a Councilmember and an overview of your qualifications, including any previous community service or involvement. 2. Explain your understanding of the role of a City Councilmember. 3. What do you believe are the greatest strengths of the City of Tukwila? 4. Describe your experience working with different stakeholders, such as businesses, community organizations and residents. 5. A Councilmember must make decisions in the best interest in the community and is faced with difficult decisions where some people may benefit and others may not. Describe your thought process for determining what is in the City's best interest and how you can make an equitable decision. 6. What do you think are the most important qualities of an effective city leader? 7. A Councilmember is part of a group that must work as a team. Provide examples of when you've collaborated with a team or have worked to reach consensus within a team. Additional questions proposed by individual Councilmembers: 1. How do you envision the legacy you would like to establish during your term of service if appointed? 2. Why didn't you run for this position during the election cycle? Executive Session Upon completion of the interviews, the Council may convene into Executive Session to discuss the qualifications of the applicants (RCW 42.30.110(1)(h)). However, all deliberations, nominations and votes taken by the Council must be in open session. The Council will reconvene into a Special Meeting for this purpose. Nominations and Deliberation The Mayor will ask for nominations from the Council for the purpose of creating a group of candidates to consider. No second is needed for a nomination. The nomination period must be closed by a 16 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 motion, second and majority vote of the Council. (For simplicity, the Council could create a nomination pool that includes all candidates who have been interviewed.) Following the nomination period, Councilmembers may deliberate on the nomination pool, offering comments about the nominees, the factors they used in deciding who to support, or any other information they wish to share before voting begins. When deliberative comments have concluded, the Mayor will poll Councilmembers to determine if they are ready to proceed with a vote. Voting The Deputy City Clerk will proceed with a roll call vote. Councilmembers will respond by stating the name of the nominee they wish to appoint. Any nominee receiving a majority of four or more votes will be appointed to Position 3. If a majority vote is not reached in the first round, the roll call vote will repeat. Councilmembers may not change their vote until a new round of voting. Rounds of voting can continue until a majority consensus is reached. If after multiple rounds of voting there is a tie of 3-3, the Mayor has the ability to break a tie pursuant to RCW 35A.12.100. The newly appointed Councilmember will be sworn in at the next available Regular or Special meeting following the City Council's vote. A note on public records All materials related to the appointment process are considered public records, including but not limited to applications, notes, evaluations, and all written and electronic correspondence. FINANCIAL IMPACT N/A RECOMMENDATION The City Council is invited to review and discuss the interview process and is asked to convey approval of the draft questions by consensus. 17