Chiara will resign from Oakdale council. Filling the vacancy is not a simple matter
Ericka Chiara plans to resign from the Oakdale City Council as of Dec. 10, prompting a Monday evening discussion on how to replace her.
Chiara did not go into detail when she made the announcement at the end of the Oct. 18 council meeting. She did say that “new things and new horizons are in store for me and my family.”
The council will discuss the vacancy at a meeting starting at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 in the chambers at 277 N. Second Ave.
Chiara’s four-year term runs through 2024. Normally, the other four council members could appoint a successor to avoid the cost of a special election, said a memo from City Manager Bryan Whitemyer and City Attorney Tom Hallinan.
But this would run afoul of a state law that bars a city council from having a majority of appointed rather than elected members, they wrote.
Mayor Cherilyn Bairos was appointed in January following the resignation of J.R. McCarty, moving up from a council seat. Curtis Haney was appointed to Bairos’ old seat in February.
Members Christopher Smith and Fred Smith got onto the council via election.
The timing of Chiara’s resignation would allow the special election to coincide with the statewide primary on June 7, 2022. That could be cheaper for Oakdale than having a separate election conducted by the Stanislaus County Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
Under state law, the council has up to 60 days after Chiara leaves Dec. 10 to call a special election, or until Feb. 8. The election must then take place at least 114 days after the call, a period that includes the June 7 primary. That ballot will feature statewide offices, legislative seats and many other contests.
Chiara joined the council by appointment in 2018 and was elected to a full term in 2020. Oakdale does not have council districts, so any registered voter can vie for the seat.
