Benson to vacate her council seat by Jan. 1

Those looking to affect change in Libby municipal government do not need to wait for the next election. Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder-elect Robin Benson will be required to step down from her position on the Libby City Council before she assumes her new office, according to Libby Mayor Doug Roll. 

While unable to cite the specific code precluding Benson from holding two elected offices, Roll “guarantees that it is the law.”

According to Roll, the City Council has 30 days to appoint a replacement member. That duty falls to the Council members and not to the mayor. 

“My only job is to chair the meeting, the Council will make the decision,” Roll said.

Roll recalls his own appointment to the City Council to replace an outgoing member midterm in 2003. It was a confusing time, with the Council being unsure of the process for appointment. The law, he said, doesn’t dictate how the Council selects the replacement, only that it does so within the 30-day time frame. 

The Council instituted a more formal process in 2006 when current Councilman Bill Bischoff was appointed. 

First, the outgoing councilperson must submit a letter of resignation. Once the resignation is received, the Council will ask for letters of interest from candidates wishing to complete Benson’s term. 

The Council will review those letters. Roll anticipates that the candidates will then be asked to attend a Council meeting and answer questions from the existing members. Following that question-and-answer period, the Council will vote to determine who will complete the remaining three years of Benson’s term. Benson was first elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013. 

Benson’s term as Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder does not begin until January 2015, so she can legally serve on the City Council until then. 

In a past interview, Benson reaffirmed her commitment to city business and said she plans to maintain her spot on the Council until the end of the year.