MORGANTOWN — A new member of Morgantown City Council will be selected next week.
The city announced Friday the names of five applicants looking to fill council’s vacant 3rd Ward seat.
Athena Freedlander, Lukaas Hendrix, Paul Liller, Deborah Bergen, and Julie Beck have applied to serve the remainder of the current council term, which ends June 30.
The city previously said council would conduct interviews March 23 and appoint the new member March 30. However, Friday’s announcement said the selection will come following the interviews, which will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The interview process will be televised on Channel 15 and available through the city’s streaming service, at morgantownwv.viebit.com.
Morgantown Communications Director Andrew Stacy said the city received seven applications. Two were ineligible, as the applicants lived outside the city.
Council’s selection will come just over a month before the city’s April 27 municipal election, for which there will be no candidates on the ballot representing the 3rd Ward.
There are currently two write-in candidates, one of which, Liller, has applied to fill the current opening. Ixya Vega has also put her name up as an official write-in candidate.
Depending on who council selects, however, there’s nothing preventing that individual from filing as an official write-in candidate, as the write-in filing deadline is April 13.
Former 3rd Ward Councilor Zack Cruze resigned the seat March 5 due to an employment-related move to California.
Cruze became the first write-in candidate to win a seat on council in 2019, meaning the first two write-in candidates to win a seat on council in the city’s history will come in back-to-back elections, representing the same ward.
According to the city’s charter, council has 30 days from the resignation to fill the vacancy or a special election is triggered.
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