Terry Williams will be appointed as Maumelle's newest Ward 3 alderman at tonight's regularly scheduled City Council meeting, with her first task being to help the council choose a new city clerk.
Williams would have been elected without opposition in the November general election to replace Preston Lewis, whose term was to have ended Dec. 31. Lewis, however, resigned Sept. 16 because of a change in residency, requiring the City Council to appoint a replacement.
Williams was the only resident to apply for Lewis' vacated position.
The City Council appointed G.K. Timmons in July to fill the other Ward 3 City Council position after it was vacated by Marion Scott, who also moved out of the ward.
Williams' appointment "makes sense," Maumelle Mayor Mike Watson said Friday, because she would have been elected in another five weeks and taken her spot on the City Council at the start of next year.
Williams' vote likely will be vital for the City Council to fill the vacated city clerk's position tonight.
Of the six applicants, two are relatives of city aldermen. With five votes needed for the appointment, only six aldermen will be able to participate in the process because the two aldermen related to the applicants will need to recuse, City Attorney Caleb Norris said.
Applicant Tina Timmons is G.K. Timmons' daughter-in-law. Applicant Jennifer Lynn Vaprezsan is married to Ward 4 Alderman John Vaprezsan.
Erika Ashley, Courtney Dunn, Jerry Poole and Andrea Zimmerman are the other applicants.
The two aldermen related to applicants are "not supposed to participate" in the discussion, interviews or vote for hiring a city clerk, Norris said.
"I've been trying to go over all the different [voting] scenarios," Norris said. "We will have six votes, plus the mayor, who can vote to make the appointment if it ends up a 4-2 [council] vote."
The mayor can only vote in order to reach a fifth vote for approval, Norris added, so he will not vote if there is a 3-3 tie between two applicants, for example.
"I haven't tried to figure out every scenario," Watson said.
None of the other aldermen have indicated that they expect to miss the meeting, Watson said.
Norris said the number of voting council members could change after the first ballot.
"If we don't end up with a majority winner after the first round, and there is a clear first and second place, then just those two are in a runoff," Norris said. "If one of those aldermen abstained because of their family member being in there, and that family member is no longer in the running, then that alderman comes back into the fold."
"If it ends up as a 3-3 tie and the two people in the runoff are Jennifer Vaprezsan and Tina Timmons, then we'll just redo the ballot again," Norris said. "And we'll see if anyone is willing to change their vote."
The city clerk appointment also could be held for another meeting, Norris said. In the case of a vacated alderman's position, state law requires the seat to be filled at the next City Council meeting after the vacancy is declared. There isn't such a provision for city clerk.
The position is to fill the remaining two years of the term of Joshua Clausen, who resigned effective Aug. 31. His resignation came under a settlement in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former city employee against Clausen and the city. The City Council approved the settlement Aug. 16.
Metro on 10/03/2016