REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Annual Appointment of Vice Mayor and Chaplain
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency
BACKGROUND
At the beginning of each calendar year, the City Council (Council) appoints a Vice Mayor and Chaplain to serve for approximately one year until a successor Vice Mayor and successor Chaplain can be appointed the following year.
On January 15, 2019, the Council adopted Resolution No. 19-8650 (Attachment 1) establishing, pursuant to Section 705 of the City Charter, a procedure for selection of a Vice Mayor and selection of a Chaplain, by a majority vote of a quorum of the Council. Resolution No. 19-8650 states that the Vice Mayor shall be the Councilmember with the highest seniority in consecutive years on the Council and who has not previously served as Vice Mayor. The most recent outgoing Vice Mayor will serve as Chaplain. The resolution further states that, if two or more Councilmembers have the same seniority in number of years served on the Council, the Vice Mayor will be determined by who received the most votes in the most recent municipal election.
DISCUSSION
The table below identifies the Councilmembers who have served as Vice Mayor since 2012.
Vice Mayor
Calendar Year
Lisa M. Gillmor
2012
Patrick Kolstad
2013
Gerald "Jerry" Marsalli
2014
Debi Davis
2015
Teresa O'Neill
2016
Dominic Caserta
2017
Kathy Watanabe
2018
Patricia M. Mahan
2019
Karen Hardy
2020
Raj Chahal
2021
As Vice Mayor Raj Chahal is the outgoing Vice Mayor, he is eligible to serve as the next Chaplain. In Mayor Lisa M. Gillmor's letter to the Council (Attachment 2), she recommends that the Council appoint Vice Mayor Chahal to the position of Chaplain until the appointment of a successor Chaplain in January 2023.
Councilmembers Sudhanshu "Suds" Jain, Kevin Park, and Anthony Becker have not yet served as Vice Mayor and have the same seniority in number of consecutive years served on the Council. Consistent with the select...
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