Video: Lakeville City Council takes heat on process to fill vacancy

(01-09-2023) The Lakeville City Council holds a special meeting to reach consensus on which of three finalists will be appointed to fill the last two years of Mayor Luke Hellier’s council term. Hellier gave up his council seat when he was elected mayor in November. 

There were two previous special meetings during this process. The first, held December 22, 2022 to chose who to interview out of a pool of ten applicants. The second was on January 3 when the council interviewed three finalists. Unlike regular council meetings and work sessions, these special meetings were not recorded. 

We recorded this meeting to provide transparency and insight into the process for the community. 

Several community members were in attendance. They expressed displeasure that the agendas at this and the first two special meetings during this process did not accommodate public comments. Some of them were concerned that the next-highest vote getter in the recent council election, navy veteran Richard Henderson, was not granted an interview for possible appointment. In this session the council provides its reasoning.

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