They have set a second special meeting for 5 p.m. Thursday to consider the appointment.
“It’s been interesting and it’s been challenging so far,” McClure said. “Obviously we were not ready to make a decision, so another meeting has been scheduled.”
The trustees gave applicants a short period of time for them to send in a letter with their information as to why they wanted to fill the vacancy.
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“The way this process has kind of gone is from the time that we were informed that there was a vacancy, I needed some time to kind of process, I needed some time to talk to the prosecutor about how this was to work,” McClure said. “Then in a meeting, Trustee Pettit and I talked about the process and decided on what kind of information we wanted.”
The Board could have just appointed someone, Pettit said, but they wanted to be more thorough.
“There’s no law that says the process we have to do,” he said. “We want to be diplomatic because you may find a candidate you didn’t know that was out there. I think we did it as diplomatic as we can, I think we’ve been as transparent as we can about it.”
McClure and Pettit said they have several applicants they are considering.
“We’re just going to try and pick the best person with the qualifications that would be the best decision for the seat,” Pettit said.
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Once the seat is filled, the new trustee will only take up the remainder of the former trustee’s term.
“Almost two years remaining on the term,” McClure said. “When the term expires in November 2021, whoever wants to run for trustee can run.”
Former trustee Joe Catanzaro’s seat became vacant in February following an opinion by the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office regarding his voter registration being canceled.
The board has until this Saturday to fill the position, which will be 30 days since the seat became vacant. After that the trustees would have to seek additional input or potentially leave the decision to the courts.
“After the 14th day of March, if Trustee Pettit and myself have not picked a person to fill the vacancy, we’re out of the process,” McClure said.
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