Chapel Hill Town Council will wait to replace Councilman Bill Strom's seat

It’s looking more likely that the newly elected Chapel Hill Town Council will determine who is appointed to a vacant seat — despite Mayor Kevin Foy’s disagreement.

Six out of eight council members said at a Wednesday meeting that they supported waiting until December, after a new council is elected, to appoint someone to the seat vacated by Bill Strom.

All twelve applicants for the seat were formally nominated. They will not make their presentations on Nov. 9, as was originally planned, but at a later date to be announced.

Ed Harrison was the first to restate his position that the new council should decide, calling upon the other council members to state their positions. He was soon joined by Laurin Easthom.

“Bill did great service to the town, but he was elected a couple years ago, and I just feel that, potentially, times are changing,” Easthom said. “We need to allow whoever is elected the opportunity to choose.”

Following in agreement were Matt Czajkowski, Jim Ward and Mark Kleinschmidt, whose statement was met with applause. Jim Merritt concurred later in the meeting.

Foy said that although he would defer to a majority vote if it came to that, he did not understand the reasoning behind allowing the new council to appoint someone.

“It’s not about who you’re going to work with,” he said. “It’s about who is the best representative.”

Town ordinances require that the appointment be considered at all regular meetings until someone is chosen.

At the meeting, Tom Holt, a member of Citizens for Responsible Government, presented a petition asking the council to postpone the appointment.

Among the more than 280 signers were Town Council candidates Jon DeHart, Gene Pease and Matt Pohlman, as well as applicant and former council member Lee Pavao.

Upon hearing the petition, Foy said he was concerned that several of the signatures were anonymous.

“To me, it’s hard to take seriously,” he said.

Holt said the new petition was prompted by concerns from some residents that the timing of Strom’s resignation was gamed in order to keep them from voting.

“Whether you get your news from the newspaper, the water cooler or the blogosphere, it is abundantly clear that this is, in fact, what many people feel,” he said.

But Foy said the speculation was unfounded.

“I think it’s clearly political,” Foy said. “You know who’s interested in what.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.