SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) - Sheboygan’s Common Council has seen five of its members step down over the past year for various reasons. Two of those people will be stepping down at the end of 2015, Second District's Jodi Vander Weele and Third District's Darryl Carlson. How the city will proceed with filling these positions will be different for each.
Mayor Mike Vandersteen tells WHBL News the seat currently held by Jodi Vander Weele in District 2 will be filled by voters in her district. “Jodi’s term ends in April, so that seat will just be filled by the election coming up, and it will be vacant until after the election.” Her district covers wards 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 on the city's northwest side.
As for Carlson's seat, Vandersteen says timing will cause a different approach. “His notice and resigning at the end of the year, the city attorney advised me that it would be better to fill this one through the council election process rather than the voting process because there wasn’t proper time for people to circulate papers and everything after the resignation is effective.”
That means people living in Carlson's district, which covers wards 10, 11 and 12 on the city's east side just north of the downtown area, who wish to take over the seat will need to get in touch with City Hall. “They will be presented to the council at the first meeting in January, which is January 4. All they need to do is write a letter to the City Clerk, let them know about their interest in running and present a brief resume. At the council meeting they will have an opportunity to make about five minutes worth of comments before the election. And then the council members will elect the person to serve in that role for the remainder of this year and then the following year of Darryl Carlson’s term.”
To recap, the members of the Sheboygan Common Council who have resigned in 2015 are Kevin Matichek, Eldon Burg, David Van Akkeren, Vander Weele, and Carlson.