At the January 13 meeting, the Greenbelt City Council approved changes to the City Code and Charter that lay out how a vacant council seat can be filled. Councilmember Rodney Roberts was the only member to oppose these changes.
The new process diverges from the steps council took at the end of 2023, after the late councilmember Ric Gordon died in November, the month he was elected to his second term. In January 2024, council appointed Amy Knesel to serve for the remainder of the term, over objections both from those who wanted the next-highest vote-getter in the recent election to be appointed and from those who called for a special election to be held.
The new changes determine the following: (1) if the vacancy occurs after an election and 181 days before the next election, then a special election will be held to fill the vacancy; (2) if the vacancy occurs between 60 and 180 days before the next regular election, then councilmembers must fill it by majority vote within 45 days. Council must hold public hearings and allow written nominations of candidates until the date of the final hearing. (3) If the vacancy occurs 60 or fewer days before the next regular election, then the seat may remain vacant until after the election, or council may fill the seat at its discretion, by majority vote and after at least one public hearing. (4) If more than 90 days before an election there are three or more council vacancies, then the seats must be filled by special election.
Speaking at the meeting, resident Bill Orleans favored the amendment but objected to council retaining the power to appoint a councilmember. He said, “… The better practice of democracy is that people are not appointed to elective office, they are elected …” This sentiment was supported by Roberts who said the new process “is just extending the right of council to appoint people, and I don’t think we should be appointing people. It should be the residents electing people.” Mayor Emmett Jordan said that the new process does “remove a great deal of discretion from council but lays out a process … and is a step in the right direction.”
Resident J Davis pointed out some discrepancies between the changes in the city code versus what was in the charter, but was assured by Councilmember Kristen Weaver that these had been addressed.