ASHLAND, Ore. – The Ashland City Council has yet to elect a new mayor or a new council member to replace Julie Akins and Shaun Moran after they both resigned last week.
The council held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss its next steps as it looks to fill two vacant positions. The council had the opportunity to elect a new mayor and councilor during the meeting but chose to plan out a timeline instead.
Starting from the date of resignation, the council has 60 days to fill the empty position. During Tuesday’s meeting, the council said it plans to elect one of its own members to step up as mayor and will reconvene in one week to make a final decision. In regards to the empty council member position, the council plans to make its final decision this March.
“This is an unprecedented event,” said Ashland city manager Joseph Lessard. “I don’t think Ashland has ever had a vacancy of the mayor before. This is all unprecedented but the council will deal with this this evening and give its staff corrections on how they’d like to proceed.”
Once a new mayor and council member are chosen, those individuals will serve in their roles until the next election, which is scheduled for November, 2024.
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