Chapel Hill Town Council Member, Rachel Schaevitz, is officially submitting her resignation this week ahead of her imminent move to Auckland, New Zealand. With Schaevitz’s departure, the council has some big decisions to make on how to fill her vacant position.

Chapel Hill Town Council started off their last meeting with a resolution for Rachel Schaevitz – honoring the town council member for her service and dedication.

Mayor Pam Hemminger spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck about Schaevitz’s work ethic and what her departure means for the council.

“She’s been just such a great bridge builder between the university, between the arts groups and between affordable housing,” Hemminger said. “She really just does a good job of bring people together to talk and we’re really going to miss her.”

While Schaevitz and her family are moving to New Zealand for new work opportunity, Hemminger did announce that they will be returning back to Chapel Hill after two years.

“She’s going to be greatly missed but I’m so glad she’s coming back,” Hemminger said.

Once Schaevitz officially resigns, the council will have a week to announce the application process designated to fill her role and to discuss the possibility of eliminating her seat altogether.

Earlier this month, the council held its’ annual retreat and discussed the possibility of reducing the number of council seats from nine to seven.

“The council also wants to have the discussion about reducing seats,” Hemminger said. “We’re going to see how that all plays out together. That sounds a little – ‘messy’ is the only word I can come up with. We talked about it at the retreat and we want to hear from the public.”

The council is hoping to get more input from the public to reaffirm whether opening up Schaevitz’s seat in an application process or reducing the number of seats is the right move.

While Hemminger said that she has received some input from the public suggesting community members to fill Schaevitz’s role, she has also received some concerns about how reducing the number of seats on the council could reduce diversity. Hemminger said she recognizes those concerns.

“I will say in this community we’ve done a really good job at keeping a diverse town council,” Hemminger said. “We’re the most diverse we’ve ever been right now. And again, we want to have the conversation to see what we think about this as we move forward.”

Once the application process is announced, there will be a 30-day window to receive applications. After that, Hemminger says there is nothing in the ordinance that dictates how long town council has to choose Schaevitz’s successor.

Because there is no hard limit on how long they have to decide who to appoint to Schaevitz’s seat, Hemminger said the discussion on reducing seats could prove even more important.

To read more about Schaevitz’s resignation, visit the Town of Chapel Hill’s website.

(Photo courtesy of the Town of Chapel Hill – featuring council members for the 2019 – 2021 term)

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