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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW West Coast leads way in automatic voter registration ... Central Point man nabs suspect for Medford police ... UPDATED: Republican Allen Alley announces bid for Oregon governor ... West Coast leads way in automatic voter registration ... Central Point man nabs suspect for Medford police ... UPDATED: Republican Allen Alley announces bid for Oregon governor ... Gold Hill will leave council seats unfilled GOLD HILL — The City Council declined last week to fill three empty seats, despite candidates willing to serve until the March election. Comment By buffy pollock MailTribune.com By buffy pollock Posted Jan. 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM By buffy pollock Posted Jan. 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM Cities fill vacancies --> Jacksonville and Talent city councils appointed new members this week to fill vacancies. Dan Winterburn was unanimously appointed Tuesday by the Jacksonville City Council to fill the two years r... » Read more X Cities fill vacancies Jacksonville and Talent city councils appointed new members this week to fill vacancies. Dan Winterburn was unanimously appointed Tuesday by the Jacksonville City Council to fill the two years remaining in Bruce Garrett's term. Garrett resigned after being elected mayor in November. Winterburn narrowly lost an election bid to incumbent Donna Schatz, who bested him by four votes following a recount in December. Brian Roberts was unanimously appointed Wednesday to fill the two years remaining for Talent City Council Position 3, formerly held by Lynn Perkins, who has moved from town. Roberts previously served on the council for seven years. He was the only applicant for the position. » Social News GOLD HILL — The City Council declined last week to fill three empty seats, despite candidates willing to serve until the March election. Longtime Planning Commission member Margaret Dials applied to fill a council vacancy and former Councilman Scott Baker offered to serve as mayor. But the remaining council members — Donna Silva, Kathleen Price, Christine Alford and Judi Holdeman — did not fill any vacancies. Silva, named council president, said at the Monday meeting that she was reluctant to hold a vote to appoint interim council members. "Donna Silva wants people that are going to stay with the city and work with the city and I see no sense in appointing someone for two months that has never been on a council before and have to redo it in two months," Silva said. "Ideally, yes, it would be best to have a full council, but if those people are not going to be up to speed and know what's going on and making informed decisions, that's not the best for the city either. Why sit for two months if you won't run for the seat?" Baker said the city charter says the council "shall" appoint people to fill vacant positions. But Silva said an attorney advised the council it could wait to fill the seats until the next election. Applications to run in the March 10 election were due to Jackson County election officials by Thursday. The only application received was from resident Randy "Bucky" Steffen, for the mayor's position, said City Recorder Mary Goddard. Holdeman said she didn't know why the council declined to fill the vacancies. "It seems (that) to fill the vacancies that people should be appointed, even if it's two months," she said. "For one thing, appoint them so we don't have ties when we vote and so we have more diversity." Dials, a retired teacher and longtime community and CanDO volunteer, said she was a little surprised "though not entirely astonished" that the council decided not to fill the vacant positions. Dials said after Monday's meeting she would "stick to working with community development and just steer clear of politics." Another longtime Planning Commission member, Gene Atkison, had applied to serve as mayor during the interim but pulled his application for health reasons. Baker offered to take on the role until March "for Gene." Atkison said he was disappointed the council, after stating in December it would appoint citizens to fill the remaining vacancies, did not opt to do so. "I'm disappointed at the fact the current council did not have the best interest of the city at heart, in following through and doing the appointment as the charter says," Atkison said. "The charter says you 'shall.' It didn't say you 'may.' " Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. By buffy pollock MailTribune.com By buffy pollock Posted Jan. 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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