STEVENSVILLE — It is going to be a few more weeks before the Stevensville Town Council can get back to full power after a technicality stalled the process of filling two open seats.
The council planned to fill the openings left by Jaime Devlin and Sydney Allen's resignations, but new Mayor Steve Gibson says a citizen raised a concern that former mayor Brandon Dewey or council president Paul Luddington should have moved to fill the openings, rather than wait for the new administration.
"After reviewing the concerns with the town attorney, we determined that we could not move forward at this time with 12 new business items, due to the fact that the former mayor did not follow proper procedures for filling vacancies,” Gibson said. “We will re-post and schedule interviews and do interviews and appointments if the council approves at a later date."
That means the council will keep applications open until the end of the month, with the goal of filling the seats on Feb. 3.
Gibson also praised staff for covering for key administrative openings, which had kept the town from sending out new water bills and receiving key revenue, until this week.
"My wife was kind of surprised when I went to the mailbox today and I was so happy. I said, 'we got a bill!' She said 'what?' I've never been so happy to get a water bill in my life,” Gibson said.
Allen resigned just after winning election to an unexpired term in November. If she and Devlin had stayed, Stevensville would have had its first Town Council composed of entirely women.
