Shake up on Council

The Maitland City Council will discuss Monday who will be taking over Councilman Howard Schieferdecker’s seat when he becomes mayor on Jan. 4.

Council members say they would welcome a former councilperson to sit on the dais for the three-month stint. Schieferdecker said former Councilmen Bill Taulbee, Keith White and Jim Panico have all expressed interest in the position.

In July, Schieferdecker was named vice mayor, knowing that he would serve as mayor from Jan. 4 through April 2012. Kinson resigned effective Jan. 4 earlier this year in order to run for Orange County Commission. He lost his bid to former County Commissioner Ted Edwards on Nov. 2.

Kinson hopes Council will appoint someone to fill Schieferdecker’s seat on Dec. 13 or at the latest, Jan. 10.

“I don’t want to see a meeting go without five people,” he said.

What about Kinson?

Council is looking for someone who is up to speed on the latest issues, so Kinson seems like an obvious choice for the job. But he’s not so sure.

“The right thing for the city to do would be to put somebody in that position that is objective that would allow Council to bridge the gap between January and the next election,” he said. “If there’s nobody else, I wouldn’t hesitate helping the city.”

Schieferdecker said that there are folks interested in the three-month stint. “I think [Kinson] would be a great choice, but I think he’s looking at other avenues.”

Councilwoman Bev Reponen said it would probably be hard for Kinson to go from running a meeting to sitting back and letting someone else run it. She said she thinks the charter would prevent his appointment anyway because he would be term-limited.

City Attorney Cliff Shepard said she's right. A member of Council who is term-limited is not eligible to be elected or appointed for one year.

March elections

There will be three seats up for election in March currently held by Schieferdecker, Linda Frosch and Phil Bonus. Frosch has filed an intent-to-run form with the city clerk’s office.

The person elected to Schieferdecker’s seat would finish up the two years on his term while the other two seats would be three-year terms. As mayor, Schieferdecker will finish out the final 15 months of Kinson’s term.

Also at Monday’s meeting

On Dec. 13, City Council will review the default letter prepared by Attorney Cliff Shepard for Maitland Downtown Property Owner LLC. If it is approved, Council will start the termination clock — it must give Maitland Town Center developer Bob Reese 30 days to cure any defaults on the development agreement.

It’s unlikely the developer will be able to do that, considering there are more than a dozen items on the default list, including property assemblage and funding requirements.

At the last meeting, Kinson said he hoped to hear from Reese’s new venture partner, Harrell Hospitality Group, before the decision was made on Dec. 13.

Council members were scheduled to meet individually with Bruce Davidson of Harrell on Thursday, but on Wednesday, City Manager Jim Williams notified Council members that Davidson had canceled the meeting.

Frosch, Reponen and Schieferdecker said on Monday that they hadn’t heard anything from the developer or its partner since the Nov. 22 City Council meeting.

“I’m waiting till Thursday to get my ducks in a row on that,” Frosch said.