MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Diane Arthur, Director
diane.arthur@surpriseaz.gov
623-222-1422
http://www.surpriseaz.gov/
For Immediate Release
Mayor Wolcott announces plans to resign; succession process set per code
Surprise, AZ (November 7, 2018) City of Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott announced her intention to resign at Tuesday’s Regular Council Meeting. Read her message.
Wolcott was first elected as mayor in November 2011 and re-elected in August of 2016. Prior to her service as mayor, she was a member of the Surprise City Council.
Wolcott’s final day as mayor will be Friday, November 16.
Per city code, all remaining members of the council are eligible candidates to fill a mayoral vacancy. The mayoral candidate must be selected no later than the second regularly scheduled council meeting following the creation of the vacancy.
Selection process: Any council member may nominate any eligible candidate, with no second required. All nominations must occur prior to voting. Voting will be by written ballot. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes will fill the vacancy. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of votes, the two candidates receiving the highest votes will be considered in a run-off vote. The first candidate receiving an affirmative majority of the votes cast will fill the vacancy. The meeting may not adjourn until the vacancy has been filled.
No later than the next regularly scheduled council meeting following the mayoral selection, the city clerk must administer the oath of office.
The selection of mayor under this section will trigger a vacancy in the district from which the mayor-select previously served, setting the stage for an appointment process for that district until the next election in which that seat would be on the ballot.
With two years left on Mayor Wolcott’s term, the council’s selection, will serve as mayor until December 31, 2021. The next election for the mayor’s seat would be the Primary Election in 2021, and the winning candidate would then begin a new four-year term on January 1, 2022.