Departing City Council members Matt Keefauver, Lydia DeHaven and Robert Dobry, along with resigning Mayor Rachel Medina, will approve their final meeting minutes and agenda Tuesday evening before the newly elected City Council members take the reins.
“It will be very ceremonial,” Medina said Monday in an interview with The Journal.
Clarisa Osborn, Dennis Spruell and Carly Wolf will serve four-year terms. Osborn was the lead vote-getter with 1,035 votes, Spruell was reelected with 1,004 votes, and Wolf earned 906 votes.
Claire West, with 827 votes, and Kathleen Swope, with 859 votes, will serve two-year terms.
As Mayor Rachel Medina resigns, the new council will appoint a council member to fill her place. While the position lacks any additional authority over city initiatives, the mayor’s role is to preside over and lead City Council meetings and provide a signature to certify ordinances following their passage. The mayor also serves as an official representative of the city.
“The council is putting their trust in you to run the meetings, lead the group,” Medina said. “It’s a ceremonial position to make sure that everyone gets heard.”
The mayor pro tem, who substitutes for the mayor in the event of an absence, is also up for a vote Tuesday evening. The position is currently held by Dennis Spruell.
In addition to electing the two leadership positions, council members will decide which boards they will sit on, including the Historic Preservation Board, the Golf Advisory Committee, the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Board and other advisory bodies.
“It’s an important perspective for them to each hear from the volunteers who have joined this board because they are dedicated to this topic,” Medina said, adding that these liaison positions allow council members to keep a finger on the pulse of community priorities.
A future agenda item for the new council includes approving ordinances that officially enact changes to the City Charter, which Cortez residents approved in the recent election.
Measures to correct grammatical mistakes, clarify city procedures and affirm the validity of online participation in council meetings passed.
“Now we have to go change city code, and to do that we have to pass the requisite ordinances,” City Manager Drew Sanders said, adding that the ordinances will appear in upcoming meetings.
This story will be updated as the mayor and mayor pro tem results become available.
avanderveen@the-journal.com
