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Poway City Council will appoint replacement

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The Poway City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to appoint someone to fill a vacancy created by the election of Steve Vaus as mayor.

Interested applicants will have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29 to complete an application which will be available on the city’s website and at City Hall.

Vaus was sworn in Tuesday night as Poway’s new mayor. He defeated Don Higginson, a 28-year council veteran, in the Nov. 4 election. Vaus, running from a “safe seat,” had two years remaining on his first council term.

City Clerk Sheila Cobian said three options were available: appointment by Feb. 13, a mail ballot election on May 5 costing the city between $140,000 and $200,000 or a June 2 special election costing between $280,000 and $350,000.

None of the four councilmembers were interested spending money on an election. The only supporter of the idea was former council candidate Pete Babich, who told the council that “elections are the cost of doing business in a democracy.”

Working with a draft calendar prepared by Cobian, councilmembers decided to accelerate the process a bit and to allow all candidates to speak at a special meeting set for Tuesday, Jan. 6.

Vaus led the effort to push the appointment up by two weeks. The plan now calls for the council to pick someone on Tuesday, Feb. 3. To achieve that goal, the candidate application deadline was shortened from Jan. 6 to Dec. 29.

Councilman Jim Cunningham was behind the idea of allowing all candidates to introduce themselves to the council at meeting before the paring-down process began. The regular Jan. 6 council had previously be cancelled but will be now be held for that purpose.

Interested candidates will also be invited to a briefing on state election laws and related topics by city staff on Monday, Jan. 5. Vaus at first questioned the need for the meeting but was convinced by Cunningham that the idea was worth the staff’s time and effort.

Following the Jan. 6 council meeting each of the four councilmembers will recommend a set number of candidates be invited back for public interviews. How many candidates will be selected will depend on how many people apply.

The last time the council had a vacancy was in 2009, when 29 residents applied. At that time the initial list was trimmed to nine semi-finalists, then to four finalists. Former City Councilman Carl Kruse was selected.

Prior to Vaus being sworn in, Higginson delivered some parting comments, specifically thanking former city managers Jim Bowersox, Penny Riley and Assistant City Manager Tina White for their work through the years. Omitted from that list was former City Manager Rod Gould. He also thanked his family, including his wife and three sons. His eldest son, Matt, told the capacity City Hall audience that he was a “grateful son and grateful Poway resident” for his father’s contributions to the city.

“I had a great time,” Higginson said of his 28 years on the council, including two stints as elected mayor.

Vaus was sworn in with his wife, Corrie, holding a family Bible for him. Afterwards, he quoted former President Ronald Reagan, saying “I remain convinced our best days are to come” and later presented each of his three fellow councilmembers with cowboy hats. Vaus always wears a cowboy hat in public.

Also sworn in Tuesday night were Councilmen Dave Grosch and John Mullin. They easily won re-election in November, defeating lone challenger Christopher Olps.

During the meeting Olps suggested the city come up with a set policy for dealing with vacancies created with a mid-term councilmember is elected mayor.

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