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Rain Fog/Mist Village will hold special election
Mayor can appoint trustee to fill Cirenza’s seat until March vote
Following the death of longtime village trustee and Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza, a special election must be held in March to fill his seat.
Village Clerk Vinny Ang said that because the seat became vacant more than 75 days before the normal village election date — the third Tuesday in March — a special election is required to choose someone to serve the remaining year of Cirenza’s term. There would have been no village election in 2010, since Cirenza’s seat, and those of Trustee Joann Antun, Mayor Ed Cahill and Village Justice Bob Bogle, do not expire until March 31, 2011. Trustees Ed Fare and John Tufarelli are up for re-election in 2012.
The person elected to serve the remainder of Cirenza’s term would have to run again in 2011 for a full four-year term.
Ang said that the mayor may appoint someone to Cirenza’s seat before the special election. “He can fill it, but I don’t think he’s obligated to,” Ang said. “The election is required.”
Cahill said he does plan to fill the seat in the interim, but not right away. “That’s been farthest from my mind,” he said. “We’re still getting over the death of Guido.”
Cahill said he plans to make an appointment sometime after Election Day. Although Cirenza was a Democrat, the mayor said he isn’t necessarily looking to replace him with another Democrat. “I want, at this point, the best person for the job, and I would like to leave political aspirations out of this,” he said. “If it’s somebody who has a lot of time to give to it, that would be a plus, too.”
Cahill said that although the decision is his, he would like Antun, Fare and Tufarelli to be in agreement on a potential trustee. No one has approached him yet seeking the seat.
The more pressing matter, Cahill said, is to name a deputy mayor. He said the position must be filled by a village trustee, so he will select Antun, Fare or Tufarelli. The primary role of the deputy mayor, Cahill explained, is to lead the board in the mayor’s absence.
The last time there was an empty seat on the village board was January 1999, when Jim Darcy stepped down as mayor after being elected to the state Assembly. Cahill, a trustee and deputy mayor at the time, was appointed mayor by the board, and selected Antun to fill the trustee seat. Cahill, Antun and Cirenza successfully ran for re-election three months later.
