Coralville City Council appoints Keith Jones to fill vacancy

CORALVILLE — The Coralville City Council has unanimously appointed Keith Jones, a retired banker, to fill a vacant council seat.

Jones, a Coralville resident for 47 years, was sworn in after the vote Tuesday evening and took his seat immediately.

Jones will serve on the council until the November 2023 municipal election and has said he will not be a candidate for the seat in that election.

“We had a lot of great, fantastic candidates, but one really stood out for his lengthy service to the city of Coralville,” Mayor Meghann Foster said about Jones.

Jones fills the vacancy on the council created in April when council member Jill Dodds resigned.

After Dodds’ resignation, the city council decided to appoint someone to fill the vacancy on the five-member council rather than hold a special election, primarily because it filled the vacancy faster and the city didn’t have to pay for a special election.

Seven residents applied to fill the vacancy and were invited to be interviewed by the mayor and city council members last week.

In addition to Jones, the council interviewed Barry Bedford, Eric Gissendanner, Mackensie Graham, Phuong Nguyen and Fay Vittetoe. Kent Christan applied but did not come for the interview.

Jones said he’s wanted to serve on the council for many years but felt his job at Hills Bank would have created too many conflicts of interest. Now that he is retired, Jones said his financial background could be an asset to the city, as well as his general knowledge of city operations.

Jones is president of several groups in the community, including the Coralville Public Library Foundation, Coralville Community Fund and Coralville Community Food Pantry. He served on the Coralville Public Library board for more than 30 years.

The seat’s term runs through December 2023. Jones will serve until the November 2023 election when whoever wins the election would be seated. Council members are paid $5,312 annually.

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