13-02-2025
Roanoke City Council asking circuit court to fill vacant council seat
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – After more than 40 days, Roanoke City Council has been unable to fill its open city council position.
Virginia Code section 24.2-228 says that when a vacancy occurs within a local governing body, its remaining members have 45 days to fill the position.
It goes on to state that if a majority of the remaining members are unable to agree on a candidate, they may pass the duty off to the local circuit court.
With the 45 days up on Friday, council voted on Monday to ask city attorney Tim Spencer to petition the circuit court to make the appointment.
Council whittled its candidate board down to three finalists in former councilwoman Patricia White-Boyd, former City Treasurer Evelyn Powers, and Temple Emmanuel rabbi Kathy Cohen.
Roanoke City Council narrows down candidates for empty seat
Powers finished fourth in the most recent city council election and White-Boyd just concluded her previous council term at the end of 2024.
Council interviewed the finalists last week but has not been able to reach a four-vote majority behind any of the candidates to make the appointment.
Former Mayor Sherman Lea, whose term also included the end of 2024, has expressed frustration with the ongoing saga.
'People can have difference of opinions but one thing about politics is you need to work together and at times it's going to take compromise,' he said in an interview earlier this month.
He said this is not a great way for the new council to begin its term and feels that at this point, the focus should have shifted fully to improving the city.
'Once they take that oath and are sworn in, their focus has to be on the work of the city,' he said.
The seat opened up after Lea's successor and former vice mayor Joe Cobb was elected mayor with nearly two years remaining on his council term.
That created a situation that councilman Nick Hagen called 'uniquely Roanoke.'
Hagen said the city charter states that if there are more than two years remaining on a vacant term, a special election is held to determine who will fill the seat.
If there are less than two years remaining, as is the case here, council is tasked with making the appointment itself.
Roanoke City Council took oaths of office and welcomed Joe Cobb
There have been numerous instances of council appointments in recent years but none of them have been made by the courts, making the current situation quite unconventional.
It is unknown what the exact hang-up was in selecting a seventh council member, but WFXR has been told the decision seemed to come down to two of the three final candidates.
According to Hagen, a lot of its boils down to differences in what each current member values in an appointed candidate.
'We get voted on in an election and we select people who want to serve,' said Hagen, voicing his belief that the results of the most recent election should be respected by choosing the fourth highest vote-getter. 'It is a radically different thing for six people to decide who should represent 100,000 people, in my view.'
According to Jim Swanson, one of five judges who would be involved in making the appointment, the circuit court has not received the petition yet.
However, he said, even when they do, they do not have to make an appointment if the judges feel the decision would be 'strictly political.'
Swanson said that in his line of thinking, 'judges should not be political,' but emphasized that he and his four colleagues would discuss the matter together and come to an agreement on what would be best.
He said that he would still 'like to see council come together and make the appointment,' and the decision would be turned back over to council if the circuit court decides not to appoint anyone.
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