During the 12/2/2024 City Council Meeting, Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced that he is accepting applications for the upcoming vacancy of the Ward 4 Council Member seat, as Dan Aymar-Blair, who was elected to the position last year but ran unopposed, was declared the winner in the close and contested election for Dutchess County Comptroller.

This is the 3rd vacancy this year for Beacon, yet the first to be announced for public consideration. When Wren Longo, Council Member for Ward 3 unexpectedly resigned just before the swearing in ceremony in January 2024, a public process was not held for her replacement. The entire Council and Mayor ran unopposed. During the 11/18/2024 City Council Meeting, Council Member Paloma Wake requested that the Mayor’s power to appoint a Council Member be open to the public.

Mayor Lee’s Response To Council Member Paloma’s Request For Public Access To Ward 4 Applicants

While Council Member Paloma asked for the applications to be made public, and the applicants be given the opportunity to present themselves to the public on why they want to serve, Mayor Lee did not indicate at the following City Council Meeting that this would be happening. Nor was public notice given about an application process on the city website or Facebook page.

Mayor Lee did make an announcement during the 12/2/2024 City Council Meeting stating that he had received emails of applicants already, and more applicants could continue emailing their qualifications. He strongly indicated that he would most likely appoint someone who had already gone through a “contested election.”

This limits the number of people who can be considered, as the applicant would have had to have been awarded a primary selection by a political party (an already difficult thing to do given signature challenges), and/or that that applicant had potentially lost a race and legally challenged the outcome. Either way, this stated preference dramatically reduces the applicant pool.

For the first two Council appointments that were not made public, one included an At Large position, where the Ward representative can live anywhere in Beacon. For that seat, Mayor Lee ignored two candidates who had tried running in the previous election: Le Star Gorton and Reuben Simmons. Instead, Mayor Lee explained that he begged Amber Grant to return to Council as the At Large representative, and shifted over Pam Weatherbee from At Large to Ward 3, which was Wren Longo’s ward.

Mayor Lee’s Process On How To Deal With Applicants

While he made an announcement during last week’s City Council Meeting, Mayor Lee did not indicate that any public process would be happening to meet the potential candidates, as Council Member Paloma had recommended. Mayor Lee said: “As [Attorney] Nick noted, the Mayor makes an appointment. The Council makes an approval. I certainly won't interfere with your process. I will certainly use the opportunity to say there will be an opening on December 31st on the Ward 4 Council seat. I certainly encourage anyone who is interested to apply. Email Ben Swanson bswanson@beaconny.gov. Or send to me at mayor@beaconny.gov.”

When referring to “your process," Mayor Lee did not indicate what that process looked like.

He continued: “I'll probably take applications for the next week. Probably the following week I'm going to remind people one more time, and then we will just shut them down. I will choose from that list. I've already had people express interest. You all are welcome to do that. I'd love to have 150 interested.

“I will say and I said this last time, that I have a decided preference for people who have served, who have run for office in contested elections. I think that makes you much more aware of the community and aware of the role up here. Doesn't mean that is the only criteria, but is a decided preference. If council receives applicants, please forward to me.”

How An Election Could Occur For The Filling Of The Ward 4 Vacancy

According to the City’s code, Section 2.04 B, the Council could hold a Special Election if they do not approve of the Mayor’s appointment. “If a vacancy in an elective office is not filled by the Mayor with Council approval within forty-five (45) days of its occurrence, the Council shall have the power to fill such vacancy by four (4) affirmative votes of the Council. In the event that no appointment is made to fill the vacancy as hereinbefore provided, the Council may call a special election to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. Such a special election shall be held no later than ninety (90) days from the occurrence of the vacancy.”