“Stop by the city building for an application and have it turned back in no later than Aug. 16 by 4 pm to the New Carlisle city building,” New Carlisle Mayor Mike Lowrey wrote on his official social media page.
The seat became open after newly elected council member Becky McKenzie abruptly resigned her position last week. It is still unclear why she decided to resign and she has not returned messages for comment.
She was elected during a special election in May but didn’t assume her position on the council until early June.
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McKenzie filled the seat in June after it was left open for nearly a year. The seat first became open when Aaron Leighty resigned in July 2018 after moving out of the city. The city council first attempted to fill Leighty’s position by taking applications and conducting interviews. However, that attempt quickly became contentious.
The council members then tried to select a new member on Aug. 23, but ended up deadlocked between Amy Hopkins and McKenzie. New Carlisle Mayor Ethan Reynolds then had an opportunity to call a special meeting on Aug. 29 and planned to appoint his choice - Hopkins, he said.
But, before he was able to do so, it was pointed out by a resident who attended the meeting that the legal advertisement announcing the meeting that was distributed in a local newspaper wasn’t clear about the purpose of the meeting. Because it was unclear if the meeting was legal, Reynolds decided not to appoint Hopkins then.
He attempted to hold an emergency meeting on Aug. 30 — the last day he was eligible to appoint someone to the council. But, New Carlisle council members Ronald Cobb, Bill Cook and Mike Lowery could not attend that meeting - each saying they had prior engagements. The three men had originally voted to add McKenzie to the council.
Because the members did not attend, the council did not have a quorum and Reynolds could not make an appointment. The mayor was then out of time and unable to make his selection.
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