Residents of Waukon’s Ward 3 can apply to fill that now vacant city council seat following appointment of former Ward 3 Councilman to office of mayor

by Joe Moses

Prior to the printing of the Wednesday, June 28, 2023 edition of The Standard, updates were provided by Waukon City Clerk Sarah Snitker and Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer relating to Waukon’s mayoral and city council appointments and the November 7 City election.

Following the resignation of Mayor Pat Stone at the May 1, 2023 Waukon City Council meeting, the City began the process of seeking an individual to fill that mayoral vacancy. At the June 19 Waukon City Council meeting last week, Ward 3 City Council member Arvid Hatlan was appointed to fill that mayoral seat, with his appointment filling the remainder of that current office term, which expires at the end of this 2023 calendar year.

Snitker noted there was a 60-day window for a mayoral appointment to be made following Stone’s resignation, with the June 19 appointment of Hatlan occurring within that time frame after Hatlan was the lone application received to fill the vacancy. Snitker advised that a 14-day period, from the beginning of Hatlan’s appointment, now exists for a special election petition to be submitted by the residents of Waukon if they would choose to do so in an effort to elect a different mayor. Beyer and Snitker confirmed that a minimum of 68 signatures would be required based upon 15-percent of the 453 total number of voters from the last election relating to this office (15-percent of those voters = 67.95).

Snitker further advised that the process to fill Hatlan’s now vacated Ward 3 council seat has begun and that a “City Council Expression of Interest” form is now available on the City of Waukon’s website at https://www.cityofwaukon.com/public-notices-hearings, which will need to be returned to Waukon City Hall for review by the City Council. Snitker noted that Ward 3 residency (map of which accompanies this article) is a requirement of all applicants interested in serving as the Ward 3 City Council member for the remainder of 2023.

Snitker further confirmed that the Ward 3 City Council member appointment would need to take place within 60 days of Hatlan’s resignation as Ward 3 council member and his mayoral appointment, or a special election would then be required. Similar to the office of mayor, a 14-day period from the beginning of the Ward 3 City Council appointment, which is yet to be made, exists for a special election petition to be submitted. Beyer confirmed that a minimum of 21 signatures would be required based upon 15-percent of the 136 total number of voters from the Ward 3 race in the 2021 City election (15-percent of those voters = 20.4).

For additional background relating to the percentage of voter signatures required for special election petitions, Beyer noted Iowa Code [§372.13(2)] which specifies that if a city’s population is 10,000 or less, the signatures required are 15-percent or 200, whichever is less, based on the votes cast for all candidates for that office at the last regular election in which the office was on the ballot.

Snitker advised that the Ward 3 Council member will tentatively be appointed at the Monday, August 7 regular meeting of the Waukon City Council, prior to August 18, the 60-day deadline to do so before the special election requirement, with August 19 being a Saturday and pushing that deadline forward by one day.

Despite the Ward 3 City Council seat’s current term not ending until 2025, the appointment to that seat will only be good through the end of this year due to resignation. That Ward 3 seat, along with the Mayor, Ward 2 City Council seat and an At-Large City Council seat, will be on this year’s November 7 City Election ballot.