The town council has decided to forego any public forum in making its decision on who to appoint to fill the council seat vacated by the resignation of Cecil Yates earlier this summer.

The initial outline of the process to select a replacement tentatively included a session in which the public would be able to hear from and pose questions to finalists for the appointment.

During a closed executive session on Sept. 18, council members decided to streamline the process due to the number of candidates.

“The mayor and council modified the selection process based on the high number of people who applied to fill the vacancy,” Miller told The Times. “The [council] gave direction to staff about making the change at its [closed] meeting this past week.”

Since that discussion was part of an executive session Grady said he could not comment further.

There were a total of 11 applicants for the seat vacated when Yates resigned to run for mayor. The council has narrowed the field to five finalists, according to Miller. Those names have not been released.

The council has allotted more than two hours for another closed session to interview candidates prior to its regular session on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

Miller said it is uncertain whether the council will vote on the appointment in the open session on that date or wait until the following meeting in October.

Public input

While the town council has decided it will not hold a public forum involving the council applicants, a group of citizens used call to the public at the Sept. 18 council meeting to voice support for one of the candidates.

About half a dozen people spoke up on behalf of Gerry Friedel, asking the council to fill the seat by appointing him to complete the remainder of the term of Cecil Yates. Friedel was one of the candidates who ran in the August primary election for the council. He finished fifth in total votes among the six candidates.

One other candidate, Sharron Grzybowski, who failed to win a seat in August, also applied for the vacant seat. She finished ahead of Friedel in the primary vote tally with 3,126 votes to his 2,875.

The first of the public speakers, Pam Aguilar, simply urged the council to consider appointing one of the two who had run in the election to fill the seat, as there are 11 total applicants.

“You have an opportunity to follow through [in] the process to fill the vacant seat,” Aguilar said. “This is a common sense approach when you have two candidates who worked hard and showed they are viable candidates.

“You do have an opportunity to say to the people, ‘your votes do count.’”

Cindy Perrin said she agreed there were two well qualified people who had run in the election and applied for the open seat. However, she was speaking on behalf of Friedel.

Perrin noted that Friedel went door-to-door in the summer heat to introduce himself to the voters.

“That shows his dedication to the people,” Perrin said. “He always makes his decisions based on facts.”

She also noted his solid financial background in banking as an asset to the town.

Perrin also submitted petition signatures on behalf of Friedel saying there were 263 signatures.

Marcus Bulow Von Dennewitz was also a candidate in August and spent a lot of time campaigning with Friedel.

“He was able to get me out of my comfort zone in talking with people,” Bulow Von Dennewitz said. “He has a great understanding of government finance and accounting.

“He will deliberate in an unselfish, measured manner.”

Friedel spoke on his own behalf to the council, thanking them for their consideration and saying he looks forward to serving.