By a 3-1 vote on June 22, city council appointed Jim Pollard to fill position 3 (Mayor Escoto’s former seat) for the next 10 months. Pollard was one of 16 applicants for the position and the only candidate who was openly discussed during the five minutes of public exchange by council.
Councilman Raymaker made the motion to appoint Pollard, seconded by Councilman Fletcher. Raymaker proffered a single statement regarding his motion: “I think Jim’s service on [Planning and Zoning Commission] P&Z has been awesome for the last four-and-a-half years, and it was something that I considered strongly.”
Councilman Bradt requested a more scrupulous process to fill the vacancy. After indicating that he attempted to contact each applicant, and had spoken with all but two, he remarked, “there’s a lot of good candidates out there, a lot of good people that, that want to serve Shenandoah. If I say, ‘no,’ tonight, it’s not a negative vote to Mr. Pollard, by any means. It’s the fact that I think council, in my opinion, needs to delve into this a little further and actually interview people and talk with them, and do the due diligence.” Several in the audience supported Bradt’s position with applause and nodding of heads.
Councilman McLeod briefly commented that he spoke to a couple of the applicants, and while not talking to everyone who applied, McLeod agreed it was fantastic there were 16 people who were interested in serving the community.
While Councilman Fletcher concurred there were “16 very qualified candidates, across the board,” his decision to appoint Pollard over other applicants was based upon applicant experience and “somebody who is used to the process, is up-to-date on matters.”
Even though an appointment deadline was not imminent, Mayor Escoto mentioned the value of full representation on the council due to the timing of upcoming budget deliberations.
An individual connected to council published an open letter to the council via social media early on the day of the meeting, prior to the vote. The letter recommended Pollard, by name, as the best choice to fill the position 3 vacancy due to his current city service.
Names of applicants were not published in the meeting agenda packet, but the Sentinel obtained the names of the 16 candidates through an open records request submitted to the City. Review of applications showed city residencies ranged from 21 months to 32 years. Diversity among the candidates included backgrounds in business, engineering, law, science, human resource management, IT/software development, education and school administration, firefighting, project management, ministry, and volunteer service. While Pollard’s selection centered around his P&Z service, a second applicant currently serving on P&Z was not publicly considered. Also among the applicants were individuals who have previously run for or actually served on council.
Councilman Fletcher encouraged the remaining 15 candidates to seek opportunities to serve by running in future elections or by seeking appointments to commissions. Fletcher said he would not run for office in 2023 when his term expires, and he indicated he could relinquish his seat on the Municipal Development District (MDD) to make room for others to get involved.
Councilmen Raymaker, Fletcher, and McLeod voted to appoint Pollard. Councilman Bradt was a lone vote of opposition, due to the process. The Sentinel reached out to Pollard for comment on his recent appointment with no response at the time of publication. His vacated position on P&Z will be filled by appointment. Pollard is scheduled to be sworn into office on July 13 at the next city council meeting.
