BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
During a special session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Los Alamos County Council will continue the process of filling the Council seat vacated by former Councilor James Robinson who resigned effective January 1. As required by the County Charter, Council will appoint a qualified person to fill Robinson’s seat for the remainder of the unexpired term, which is in this case is until Dec. 31.
Council has already advertised the vacancy and letters of interest are to be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 20 to County Manager Steven Lynne at 1000 Central Ave. #350, Los Alamos, NM 87544 or by email to lacmanager@lacnm.us. With 10 days to go, just two letters have been submitted.
County Council’s Procedural Rules require that when the recruiting process is complete, Council will appoint a committee to develop a set of interview questions that appropriately demonstrate the applicants’ skills, knowledge and interest in the position; they may also address issues relevant to the community. The draft set of interview questions has to be reviewed, discussed and agreed on by Council in the public meeting prior to initiating the interview process. At Tuesday’s meeting, Council is expected to clarify how the interview questions will be developed and approve that process and schedule.
Although originally scheduled as hybrid, the meeting will now be held virtually via Zoom. It may be viewed at link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86379958681 or attended by telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 720 707 2699 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799
Webinar ID: 863 7995 8681
For Viewing only, use: http://losalamos.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
The agenda packet indicates that Council Chair Randall Ryti has proposed the following clarification to the interview question development process:
1. The Chair will appoint a subcommittee to develop interview questions.
2. The subcommittee will prepare draft interview questions
3. The draft questions will be included as an attachment in the Jan. 25 Council agenda packet
4. As a preliminary step to the interview process at the Jan. 25 Council meeting, Council will review, amend if desired and approve the interview questions.
5. Finalized questions will be printed and handed to each applicant and emailed to any applicant participating through Zoom prior to the interview.
Per Council’s Procedural Rules, all applicants will attend the Jan. 25 Council meeting where they will be given the opportunity to make a three-minute statement to share their interest and qualifications for the position. They will then each answer interview questions from Council. There will be an opportunity for public comment, which is limited to three minutes per person.
After public comment, Council will take a roll call vote and the applicant with the most votes will be appointed to fill the vacancy. In order to be selected, an applicant must receive a minimum of 4 votes. If no applicant receives 4 votes after the first roll call vote, the applicant with the fewest votes will be eliminated and the Council will take additional roll call votes until a final selection is made.