Council Can Appoint District 5 Rep If Gordo Wins Mayor’s Race

The City Council will have 75 days to choose a replacement for Councilman Victor Gordo if he wins the mayor’s race in Tuesday’s election.

However, the selection process for a replacement is not laid out in the City Charter.

“If a vacancy occurs among any other members of the City Council, the remaining members shall within 75 days after such occurrence to appoint a qualified resident voter of the unrepresented district who shall hold office until the office is filled at the next general municipal election,” according to the charter. “If the City Council cannot agree on one person to fill the vacancy, the replacement shall be chosen by lot.”

Gordo and incumbent Mayor Terry Tornek are squaring off in a runoff election on Tuesday.

A Gordo win would leave District 5 without representation and force the city to choose a replacement.

On Monday, Gordo told Pasadena Now he has not considered the process or given any thought to a possible replacement.  

The City Council was forced to appoint two Councilmembers in recent times.

In 2013, the City Council selected Joel Bryant from a list of four other applicants to fill the District 3 Council seat left vacant by former Councilman and Mayor Chris Holden, who was elected to the state Assembly. Bryant filled the seat on a temporary basis until a permanent representative, John Kennedy, could be elected by voters and take office.

Bryant was appointed 55 days after Holden stepped down from the City Council. 

In that selection process, each applicant was allowed up to six minutes to make a presentation. Council members then asked each applicant a series of predetermined questions. No applicants were permitted in the Council Chamber during interviews of any other applicant.

At the conclusion of the interviews, all applicants returned to the Council Chamber to observe the council’s deliberations and watch them vote. Bryant was immediately sworn in after the vote and served until Kennedy was elected the following spring.

The City Council took a different approach after Tornek won the mayor’s race in 2015. In that process, applicants for Tornek’s District 7 seat on the council were required to pay the $25 registration fee and collect 25 signatures, which is required of candidates seeking election.

The council appointed an ad hoc committee to review the applications for Tornek’s former District 7 council seat and prepare questions for the candidates. The council eventually selected current Councilmember Andy Wilson 45 days after Tornek formally stepped down.

Gordo said the reason the process differed was because the appointed District 7 council member would serve two years before the election, and not just months. When the next election came around, Wilson successfully ran for the seat.  

“There is a benefit to having candidates going out and introducing themselves to voters and explain at least to a small number of voters why they want to serve,” Gordo said.