Tiffin City Council to appoint new council member

TIFFIN - The Tiffin City Council has decided to appoint a new council member to fill the seat left vacant earlier this month with the resignation of Mark Petersen.

Tiffin Mayor Steve Berner said the council decided during its Wednesday meeting to appoint a new council member, rather than host a special election to fill the seat.

Tiffin City Administrator Michon Jackson said at least three residents have expressed interest in the open seat.

'It's really nice to see people are interested,” she said, adding that the short term length - the appointed council member will have to run in the November election to retain the seat - may play a role.

'This could be a chance to test the waters,” she added.

Petersen announced his resignation in a Jan. 22 letter to the council, and said Monday he would rather not comment on why he chose to resign, but thanked the council for their work.

'I regret resigning from the Tiffin City Council, I want to further my avenues down the road and I appreciate all the nice comments I've received pertaining to the things I've done for the city of Tiffin,” Petersen said. 'The avenues I want to pursue might be difficult if I'm on the city council.”

Petersen said he couldn't comment on what his future plans might entail. He had about three years left on his term.

Council member Joann Kahler said Petersen's resignation caught her off guard.

'I was surprised, I had no idea that was on his mind,” she said.

Petersen was elected to the Tiffin City Council in the 2013 general election, edging out fellow candidate Bruce Hecox by 12 votes. He ran unsuccessfully for another council seat in the 2009 general election after falling 22 votes behind current council member Peggy Upton.

If Tiffin residents oppose the decision to appoint, they can force a special election with a petition of at least 40 signatures - 15 percent of voters in the last city election - that must be filed within 14 days of the vacancy's posting date.

A special election would cost between $1,500 and $2,000, and the new council member would hold the seat for the remainder of its term, which ends at the close of 2017, Jackson said.

Finishing up its budget session, the Tiffin council now only has four members, meaning the margin for passing resolutions has been narrowed significantly. Two votes in the negative results in a tie, causing the vote to fail.

Petersen's resignation adds another wrinkle to an already hectic situation in the Johnson County community of about 2,400 people.

Tuesday will be the last for Jackson, who will be moving to Florida soon after, so the council Wednesday decided to hire Anamosa-based Callahan Municipal Consultants to find a new administrator, which could take upward of four months and cost about $12,000.

In the meantime, the council plans to hire interim city administrator Tim Long, currently working in Illinois, to handle day to day operations.

In the nearby city of Solon, the council is already slated to appoint their second council member of the year to fill a seat left vacant after Ron Hedliska's Jan. 1 resignation.

Solon City Administrator Cami Jo Rasmussen said the Solon City Council will likely appoint a new council member on Feb. 4.

The Solon council has already made one appointment this year, naming Mark Prentice council member to fill the seat left vacant earlier this month with the resignation of Brad Kunkel.

Both the appointments are for council seats that will be up for vote at the end of this year.