MT. AIRY — The Mt. Airy Town Council expects to vote tonight, Feb. 5, on calling a special election to fill an open seat on the council.
Councilwoman Linda Hughes died recently after a lengthy battle with cancer, leaving an open seat on the council.
During a two-hour Council work session last week, Town Clerk Sheri Berrong told council members a special election could coincide with the upcoming May primaries.
The only additional cost to the town would be ballot preparation since the election would coincide with the scheduled primaries, Berrong said.
Also on Wednesday, the council and new City Manager Tim Jarrell discussed working this year on updating and modernizing the town charter for legislative approval in 2019.
During that process, one area where they want to work is clearly laying out the procedure for when and how to fill a vacant council seat.
Town officials say it doesn’t make financial sense to call for a special election if there are only months left in an unexpired term, but they note there are ambiguities in the current wording that allows for appointments. Specifically, there is no designation as to who makes the appointment.
Officials want to streamline and clarify that procedure so it is clear should the situation arise in the future.
