Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt has worked alongside Matt Czajkowski for nearly eight years – and squared off against him in a 2009 race for mayor that was one of the closest Chapel Hill had ever seen.
They’ve had disputes – but with Czajkowski about to step down from his Town Council seat at the end of this month, Kleinschmidt says he will be missed.
RELATED: WCHL’s Elizabeth Friend spoke with Czajkowski about his decision to leave the Chapel Hill Town Council to continue non-profit work in Africa:
“One of the things we say after every election is that with any change, even with one member, the Council becomes a different body,” Kleinschmidt says. “(Czajkowski’s departure) is certainly going to change the way our Council functions and operates and the way in which we have conversations and conduct our deliberations…
“I think Matt has added what he’s promised, which is a different view, an alternative view, and (he’s) helped ensure that our Council’s deliberations were enrichened with varying perspectives – and I think we’re going to miss that.”
Now the question becomes: will the remaining members of the Council appoint someone to fill Czajkowski’s seat until the November election? Following the town charter, Mayor Kleinschmidt will officially announce a vacancy on the Council after Czajkowski steps down, and the town will begin accepting applications for an appointment – but what the Council members do with those applications is up to them.
“Because there is no deadline on when such an appointment has to take place, it really depends on what conversations the Council has and how it responds to the applicant pool,” Kleinschmidt says.
Council members have two options for an appointment: they could choose to appoint a new member who would then run for a full term in November – or they could appoint a member who vows to serve only as a placeholder for eight months and not run in the fall.
Mayor Kleinschmidt says there are advantages and disadvantages either way – but any appointee would have to be experienced.
“There are several people out there who are contemplating Council races in the coming year, and we have to be thoughtful about what it means to appoint someone who’s presented themselves as a potential candidate,” he says. “Another way we could go is to perhaps seat someone who’s committed to not running, someone who’s a placeholder – and I think if we were to go in that direction, we would want someone who could come in and very quickly fill an important role that would involve finalizing our budget for the coming year as well as contributing to the Obey Creek development agreement process.
“Those are very complicated and difficult issues, and if we appoint somebody, they’re going to have to deal with those things immediately.”
There is also a third option: Council members could simply choose not to appoint a new member and leave the seat vacant until the fall.
Kleinschmidt, for his part, says he’s not sold on that option yet. “That would leave the Council with only eight members, and I’m somebody who thinks there’s a purpose behind the fact that the Council is made up of eight members and the mayor,” he says. “It’s been about 40 years since the town made that decision, and I think there’s value in maintaining a full set of officials to help make decisions. In that way, I think we can ensure that a diversity of views is being brought to the table during our deliberations.”
Regardless, the discussion about whether to appoint or not to appoint will not officially begin until after Czajkowski steps down at the end of March. And his term expires in November – so one way or the other, voters will elect a new council member to serve a full term in that seat by the end of the year.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines