City sees no rush of council candidates

The Libby City Council has until Dec. 24 to fill former councilmember Doug Roll’s vacancy, and as of presstime on Wednesday, there had been no applicants.

The deadline to turn in letters of interest is Friday.

“We’ve had it in the paper for a couple of weeks,” Roll said. “We’ve done the best we can (advertising the vacancy).”

The position ran in Libby newspapers last week and this week. If the council doesn’t receive any letters of interest by Friday, it will set a new deadline for applicants and continue to advertise the position, Roll said.

Legally, the council has 30 days to fill vacancies. The position opened up last month when former mayor Tony Berget started his duties as county commissioner, and Roll became mayor.

“We have 30 days,” said councilmember Walt McElmurry, “but if we don’t find anybody, we just have to run it longer.”

The council has discussed more proactive ways to fill the vacancy.

“We will probably go out and seek people who would want to run,” McElmurry said. “I’ve talked to the council about talking to some of the old city council members who might be interested.”

McElmurry pointed out that the training process would be easier with a veteran council member.