Zone 3 City Council Seat will not be Filled on Wednesday After all

Councilman will not be sworn into office until May 18

Originally, Mayor Jim O'Neal expected to walk out of City Council Chambers on Wednesday afternoon with a newly appointed Zone 3 City Council person.

According to a news release from the City, the Mayor has come up with a new process for selecting the Zone Council member.

The news release outlines the procedure after the noon, Wednesday meeting:

After the special meeting, the current members of the City Council will be asked to submit by noon, Friday, May 1, the names of the four candidates they each believe to be the best qualified for the Zone 3 seat. He also is asking the current Councilmembers to submit three or four questions they would like to ask each of the finalists.

On Friday, May 1, the votes from the current Councilmembers will be tallied and the top three candidates will be asked to have second interviews with the City Council at 6 p.m., Monday, May 4. These interviews will be at the beginning of the regular Council meeting, which will start an hour earlier than usual.

At the second interview, the Council will ask the candidates questions from the lists submitted by the Councilmembers. Following the individual interviews, the Council will make its selection of the new Zone 3 Councilmember.

The new Councilmember will be sworn into office at the City Council meeting on Monday, May 18.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pension Task Force Application Process Briefly Re-Opened

Final version of Burris' Charge to the Pension Task Force Available

You have between now and Thursday of next week at 5 p.m. (April 16) to apply for the Pension Task Force.

Excerpts from the City's News Release regarding the re-opening of the application process, in no particular order:

The new City Council will select six members to join nine members selected by the outgoing Councilmembers. The outgoing Council initially selected 11 members, but two of them will not serve based on potential conflicts of interest. They are Carol Milhalevich, whose husband works for the City of Springfield in a Public Works position, and Matt Morrow, who is the executive director of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield.

The incoming Springfield City Council will accept additional applications for the Police/Fire Pension Fund Citizens' Task Force beginning immediately and continuing through a deadline of 5 p.m., Thursday, April 16, 2009.

Citizens who are still interested in serving on the Task Force, but had not applied previously, are invited to submit an application to be considered for the remaining seats on the Task Force that will be filled by the incoming City Council.

The application form can be submitted online on the City's Web site at: www.springfieldmo.gov . Citizens who don't have access to the Internet can call 864-1010 to have a copy of the application mailed to them. Or they can visit the Busch Building, 840 Boonville Ave., to pick up an application form during regular business hours.

Mayor-elect Jim O'Neal said the new Council will be asked to select six individuals from the new applications, the remaining applicants in the original group of 54, and others who have been recommended by Councilmembers. Individuals who have already submitted applications do not need to re-apply if they still wish to be considered for service on the Task Force.

In other news from the City:

The final version of City Manager Greg Burris' charge to the Police-Fire Pension Task force is available at:

www.springfieldmo.gov/pdfs/budget/pensionTaskCharge.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~