Councilmember Neal Johnson Resigns

City Council to fill vacancy by appointment

September 25, 2011

Neal Johnson

MASON - City Councilmember Neal Johnson resigned from office during the September 19th regular meeting of the council.  The announcement came as a shock to many officials and residents of the community.  While Johnson's resignation is a loss to the city, it will enable him to focus on family and work matters.

Johnson was first appointed to the City Council in 2003 after the seat of Councilmember-Elect Tim Soule was vacated.  In 2006 he lost a bid for election to the council by 9 votes, coming in fourth out of a field of six.  Johnson was subsequently appointed to the Planning Commission and served until 2009, when he was re-appointed to the council after the resignation Councilmember Scott Preadmore.  He won his first election to council in 2010 receiving 19.63% of the vote and placing third in a field of five.

According to the city charter (Sec. 5.5) the council will fill the vacancy within 30 days.

If any vacancy occurs on the Council more than 182 days prior to the next regular city election and the office would not otherwise be filled at such election, such vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the majority of the remaining members of the Council until the first meeting following the city election, and the balance of the unexpired term shall be filled by that person who receives the next highest number of votes cast for Council candidates after all regular four-year terms are filled. When any such vacancy is to be filled at a regular city election, the Council shall nominate such additional candidates as required by Section 3.13 of this Charter to make the total number of candidates equal to the number of offices to be filled at such election. Any other vacancy to elective offices shall be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the Council for the unexpired term. All vacancies to be filled by appointment under this Section shall be so filled within thirty days after such vacancy occurs. (Mason City Charter, Section 5.5)

The newly appointed councilmember will serve until the regular city elections of 2012. The person who places 5th in the 2012 elections will fill the remaining two years of the term. This means voters will elect 5 councilmembers in 2012 and 4 councilmembers in 2014.

The Mason City Clerk will accept letters of interest from residents seeking appointment to the vacancy. All letters must be received by October 10, 2011 at 4:30 pm.