Who Will Fill Bill Richardson's Council Seat?

Saturday, Mayor Dwain Morrison announced Councilman Bill Richardson of Single Member District 1 tendered his resignation via letter. This morning, City Clerk Bryan Kendrick announced the council would consider appointing a new representative to fill that seat.

But first, council must accept the resignation at the March 2 special meeting, or the resignation will become official anyway eight days after Richardson submitted his resignation letter.

What to do with the open seat comes next.

Citing Chapter 14 of the City of San Angelo’s Charter, Kendrick gives the council two options for the Thursday meeting. Council can unanimously vote to approve the appointment of a citizen to the unexpired term. If the council cannot agree upon the person to appoint during a period of 30 days from March 2, a new special election must be called in accordance with the City’s election procedures. That will likely mean the seat will remain unfilled until the May 6 election.

In the May 7, 2016 election, Trinidad Aguirre lost to Richardson by just 43 votes. This morning, Aguirre said he was not aware of any effort by anyone at the city to recruit him for the unexpired term. But events are moving fast, he admitted. Richardson’s resignation happened Saturday and a special session was announced this (Monday) morning to deal with the resignation.

Would Aguirre serve? “I am available to serve my district if the majority of council selects me,” he said.

City Clerk Bryan Kendrick said what happens to the SMD 1 seat depends on the discussed of council Thursday. He said should the council could decide to fill the council seat with a special election, the City has a very narrow window available to put the SMD 1 seat on the May 6, 2017 election.

Aguirre said he would definitely run for the open seat if it is put up to a special election. Former Councilman Rodney Fleming said this morning that he does not want to be considered for the unexpired term. “I’ve done my duty. It’s time to tend to my business,” he said.