City officials will be leaving the late Larry Maglinger’s City Commission seat vacant this week out of respect for his family. However, state statute requires the seat to be filled within 30 days, and that process simply involves the Commissioners choosing a replacement from an applicant pool — meaning there won’t be any sort of special election.
City Manager Nate Pagan said the Commission didn’t feel it was appropriate to rush into filling the seat.
“I think the general consensus would be we’d like to wait before we initiate that process, out of respect for Commissioner Maglinger and his family and the position he occupied. So we don’t plan to start that until next week,” Pagan said.
He said they plan to act within the state’s statutory deadline to fill the vacancy, though.
According to a Kentucky Revised Statute, if the remaining members of the Commission don’t select a replacement within 30 days, the governor would step in to make an appointment. In both situations, the replacement will serve the remainder of the term, which in this case is through the end of 2024.
Pagan said, generally speaking, the City plans to allow 10 days for applications to be accepted. Mayor Tom Watson and Commissioners Mark Castlen, Bob Glenn and Pam Smith-Wright will interview the candidates and vote on who will take the seat.
Pagan said the City plans to have more information regarding the process in the coming weeks.
