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Crescent City Councilors will appoint a resident to fill the vacancy left behind by their colleague Beau Smith who resigned last month.

The city is finalizing an application for the position that it will send out in the next couple days, City Clerk Robin Altman told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Thursday.

Candidates will then appear before the four remaining City Councilors who will interview them at a special meeting Jan. 9 before making their final decision on who to appoint, City Manager Eric Wier said Monday. That Councilor will then take their seat at a special meeting Jan. 23.

The appointed City Councilor would serve out Smith’s term, which ends in 2024, Wier said.

If they chose not to appoint a resident to fill the vacant seat, the City Council could have held a special election either through vote-by-mail in April or in-person in November, Wier said. But it would have cost the city an estimated $40,000, he said.

“If the Council chooses to appoint, that appointment needs to be made within 60 days,” Wier told the Council. “Councilmember Smith resigned on Nov. 17, so that puts the appointment date at the latest, Jan. 16.”

Though the decision seemed procedural — with Councilor Jason Greenough and Mayor Pro Tem Blake Inscore pointing out there are other ways the city could spend $40,000 — the City Council still had questions.

Inscore asked if the city could verify a potential candidate’s residency.

“This has obviously been an issue in our community and we do not need it to be an issue,” Inscore said Monday. “That could be something as simple as bringing your water bill in — something. Can we ask somebody to provide proof of residency as part of an application in this case since it is a requirement for the job?”

Though Inscore didn’t mention him by name, the previous issue he referred to involved former Crescent City Mayor Pro Tem Alex Campbell, who resigned after the Del Norte County District Attorney charged him with perjury and election fraud in 2021. The charges stem from allegations that Campbell did not live within city limits when he filed his candidacy papers in the 2020 election.

On Monday, City Attorney Martha Rice said the application and subsequent declaration a candidate needs to swear to states that they’re eligible to serve on the City Council.

“I don’t know that requiring extra information is really going to deter somebody that’s trying to sort of beat the system, if you will,” she said. “I think the city’s actions in enforcing these things is sending the right message.”

Greenough said if it’s discovered that a potential City Council candidate isn’t a resident, “they will be removed.”

“We’ve shown in the past that unfortunately has had to happen,” Greenough said. “We’ll enforce the law and move on, so hopefully the people of Crescent City will come out and decide to be a part of the process.”

Crescent City Police Chief Richard Griffin said his department has recent experience “in determining whether people are living here or not.”

“Unfortunately, we’re getting pretty good at it now,” he said. “We would get on it very quickly and we already established some protocols on it. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

Smith was elected to the City Council in 2020. He announced his resignation on Nov. 17 after he had applied for one of the paid captain positions with Crescent City Fire & Rescue. He said he wanted to avoid the appearance of any improprieties.

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