It’s sure to be an interesting meeting of the Blue Lake City Council tonight, as city staff prepares to resolve a dilemma that hasn’t occurred since anyone seems to remember – two candidates tying for an open city council seat.
The final election report, which was released last week, showed that two of the three open seats on the council will be filled by the candidates who received the most votes, Michelle Lewis-Lusso (285) and John Sawatzky (250). But for the third open seat, two candidates — incumbent Adelene Jones and challenger Kat Napier — each received exactly 245 votes.
In an interview with Lost Coast Outpost last week, Humboldt County Clerk/Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan P. Cervantes explained that in the case of an election tie, California Elections Code 15651 dictates that ties must be resolved through some sort of random selection process, such as picking a name out of a hat.
Early in tonight’s special meeting, Blue Lake City Staff will introduce the tie-breaking process and draw one of the two names, which will be sealed in envelopes, out of a container. After the new city councilmember is selected, they will be sworn into their position alongside the two other winning candidates.
If you want to witness the action, attend the Blue Lake City Council meeting tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 10) at 6:30 p.m. at Blue Lake City Hall, 111 Greenwood Ave. Click here to view the full agenda and directions on how to participate.
