Three of the remaining members of the Neosho City Council officially accepted the resignation Tuesday of Councilman RoseMarie Carnes, who had announced her decision earlier that day in a press conference (See Tuesday’s edition of the Neosho Daily News).

Now the council has 30 days to appoint someone to fill Carnes’ unexpired term, which ends next April.

A losing write-in candidate, meanwhile, in last month’s city council election has indicated she might seek the appointment.

At the end of the council’s regular meeting Tuesday, Mayor Howard Birdsong read aloud Carnes’ official resignation letter and asked for a motion that the resignation be accepted. Councilman Warren Langland made the motion and was seconded by Councilman Matt Persinger. Councilman Jeff Werneke was not present. The motion was unanimously passed.

The council is now soliciting letters of intent from anyone who might be interested in filling Carnes’ council seat for a period of about 10 months, until the regular municipal election is held in April 2009. If no one is appointed within the next 30 days, under city code, the city clerk can call a special election for the next available election date — November 4 in this instance — to fill the vacancy until April’s election. The August 5 election is not available because the filing deadline will have already passed before the 30-day window is up.

Qualified Neosho residents who wish to seek appointment to the council must submit a letter of intent to the city clerk before the council’s next regular meeting on May 20.

Recent council candidate Heather Bowers, who lost an election bid to Persinger in April, said Tuesday night she would consider tossing her hat in the ring for selection to the unexpired term.

“It would be unfortunate not to have representation for all of the citizens, especially considering the situation we’re in,” Bowers said, noting what she sees as failures by city management and most of the council members to take into account citizens’ concerns in the past.

One of the reasons Carnes indicated she was resigning is that she didn’t feel the senior citizens of the community had a voice with the city administration. An example she gave was what amounted to the ultimate ignoring of suggestions and recommendations, made both directly and indirectly, by seniors regarding the renovation last year of the city-owned Senior Citizens Center.

“It is now very clear that I cannot effectively work for the betterment of our community in an environment so lacking in good will for ALL of the citizens of Neosho,” Carnes stated in an open letter to the public.

City Manager Jan Blasé said Tuesday he had simply trusted in the professionalism of the Senior Center project’s architect when it came to making decisions regarding the center.

•••

See more on Tuesday’s council meeting in Thursday’s edition of the Neosho Daily News.



NOTEBOOK

To qualify to be a Neosho city councilmember, you must:

• Be at least 21 years of age prior to taking office

• Be a resident voter of the City of Neosho