By Rebecca Dopp
Times-News Correspondent
It all came down to a coin toss when the Levan Town
council appointed a new member to fill the vacancy left by
Corey Christensen who resigned at the first of July.
Heather Taylor, clerk, said that according to the
League of Cities and Towns, the procedure for appointing a
new member consisted of giving the public two weeks notice
to nominate someone and then the remaining council members
would decide who to accept from those nominees.
She read the names of those who had been nominated by
citizens in Levan. They were Russell Goates, Heber Taylor,
Pam Taylor, Heather Taylor, Bruce Rowley, Carl Timmerman,
Nathan Oliver, and Paul Mangelson.
Mangelson had 54 nominations and Nathan Oliver had the
next most at 6 nominations. The other nominees each had
one.
Brian Ercanbrack, council member, wanted to clarify
the nomination process.
"This was just to nominate, it doesn't matter how many
people nominated [one person]," said Ercanbrack.
"All the nomination process was was to bring a group of
names to the council."
Taylor said that it would still be up to the council
on who to appoint.
Mayor Bob Shepherd said it did show the interest of
the people, though.
Janet Carter said she was under the impression that in
the past the person who had the next highest votes in the
last election was usually appointed and asked why the
council couldn't go back to the previous November election
votes and appoint that person. (That would have been Nathan
Oliver who beat out Mangelson by 10 votes. Christensen's
seat was not up for re-election in November 2005.)
Shepherd said that it could have gone either way
between the two, Oliver and Mangelson, in the November
election if the winners were taken out of the equation.
Those votes could have gone to either remaining
candidate.
Carter said the nomination process was unfair and that
a lot of people were unable to bring in nominations during
the regular office hours, 9:00 a.m.-12 noon, because they
worked.
Heidee Oliver said she had people ask her if Nathan
had already been nominated and then didn't bring in a
nomination for him because his name had already been
submitted.
Shepherd said citizens had two weeks notice and could
have brought in their nominations.
Ercanbrack said that was true, but they didn't put in
the posted notice that the one with the most nominations
would have the most weight.
Shepherd said it was up to the council members to put
the weight on the nominations.
Brady Taylor, council member, said that a statement
made by a town employee stated that "the one with the most
nominations would probably get voted in by the council".
Heather Taylor said that was just the opinion of that
person.
Christensen said this was not an election and it was
just a way to get names to the council. He also asked if
those who had been nominated had been contacted and if they
would serve if appointed.
Heber Taylor and Heather Taylor were both present at
the meeting and declined to accept the appointment if voted
in. Pam Taylor was contacted via phone and was not
necessarily interested in serving. Ercanbrack said that
Rowley would do it as a last resort because of his busy
schedule, and that Timmerman would probably decline. Goates
was not contacted.
Oliver was present at the meeting and read a letter he
had submitted to the council stating his desire to serve and
asking that they consider him for the position. He wanted
the people of Levan to know that he was still very
interested in serving the community.
Mangelson was not present.
Brady Taylor made the motion to appoint Oliver to the
council with Ercanbrack seconding the motion. It was a 2-2
vote with Ralph Brooks and Shepherd opposing.
Brooks made the motion to appoint Mangelson to the
council with Shepherd seconding. Again it was a 2-2 vote
with Taylor and Ercanbrack opposing.
The council looked through the other nominees and of
those, none were able to get the three votes required.
According to the recommended procedure by the League
of Cities and Towns, a tie would have to be broken by
drawing lots, said Heather Taylor, or in this case, a flip
of the coin.
Since Oliver was present at the meeting he was able to
call heads or tails. He chose tails and Taylor flipped a
coin which landed on heads.
Mangelson was the winner and will serve on the council
if he does not decline.
|
