The St. Paul City Council has been without a seventh voting member since Feb. 5, when former Council President Mitra Jalali stepped down from her Ward 4 seat. After two months without a council member representing Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park and portions of Como and Macalester-Gro veland, many voters expected the council to appoint a temporary replacement on Wednesday. For the second week in a row, the council did not, though not for lack of trying. “This process is not what I had hoped it would be,” said Council President Rebecca Noecker, at the end of a lengthy and sometimes emotional discussion about the behind-the-scenes politicking and lack of transparency that derailed an appointment process now likely headed to the mayor’s desk. “We all have a lot of reflecting to do,” Noecker said. “The decision, in this case, would go to the mayor.” Deadlocked, failed votes Early in Wednesday’s meeting, Noecker made a motion to suspend the rules and introduce a special resolution to sponsor Lisa Nelson as the interim Ward 4 member, but the council deadlocked, 3-3, on whether to allow the motion to move forward. Without majority support, the motion failed. Council members Anika Bowie, Cheniqua Johnson and Saura Jost voted against the motion, with Jost participating remotely from San Diego. Noecker, HwaJeong Kim and Nelsie Yang voted for the motion. Jost later made a motion to introduce her own resolution, under suspension of the rules, sponsoring Matt Privratsky as the interim Ward 4 council member. That motion also failed 4-2, with only Jost and Johnson voting yes. Later in the meeting, the council called a recess, and members exited the chamber for an extended period. Some returned visibly emotional. Soon after, Kim introduced yet another motion to suspend the rules and reconsider the previous vote, drawing strong remarks of frustration from Johnson. “This process has been anything but the standard we’ve operated under,” said Johnson, calling the behind-the-scenes politicking “painful” and embarrassing. “When we left the room today before the recess, we didn’t have a (majority). … That discussion that happened after the recess was not transparent.” After further remarks from other council members, Kim’s motion failed, 3-3, with Kim, Noecker and Yang voting to support it and Bowie, Johnson and Jost voting against. Mayor may have to step in Without majority support for a new council member, the seat remains empty, raising the likelihood that St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter will have to appoint someone this month to fill the Ward 4 vacancy through the Aug. 12 election. Under the city charter, the council has 30 days to fill a vacancy, and Jalali officially left city employ on March 8. The next scheduled council meeting is April 9. If no one is appointed by April 7, the mayor would then have 10 days under the city charter to appoint “a qualified voter of the ward.” Council members acknowledged the stakes are high. The new appointee may cast tie-breaking votes on a variety of issues, including looming budget questions and what’s likely to be a hot-button discussion over the future of the city’s voter-approved rent control ordinance. At the mayor’s urging, Noecker and two other council members plan to introduce an amendment this month eliminating rent control protections for residential properties constructed after 2004. In a trade-off of sorts intended to soften the blow for renters, Johnson plans to sponsor a series of tenant protections, to be introduced around the same time. “We have big votes before us,” said Bowie, criticizing “us playing a game of chess” to fill the council vacancy. “It’s very important who is in this seat.” A sticky process Efforts to fill the Ward 4 seat since Jalali’s departure have proven procedurally sticky. Jay Willms, who was recently named chief of council operations, screened 20 applications. After conferring with city clerk Shari Moore and others at City Hall, he whittled the pool to four finalists. With the goal of filling the vacant seat by early April, the council interviewed the four finalists in mid-March, including Nelson, a former art conservator turned neighborhood advocate; Privratsky, a lobbyist for the clean energy industry who had previously served as Jalali’s legislative aide; artist and community organizer Sean Lim; and nonprofit consultant Melissa Martinez-Sones. Noecker was on bereavement leave and unable to attend the meeting on March 26, when the council was initially scheduled to vote on an appointee. Over the objection of Kim and Yang, Jost took the opportunity to offer an amended resolution in favor of Privratsky, with the stated expectation the final resolution would be voted upon by the full council later that week. Instead, during a special convening of the council last Friday, Noecker withdrew the resolution from the agenda, closing the meeting in three minutes without a vote. By that time, Martinez-Sones had withdrawn her name from consideration. Both Noecker and Jost then attempted to introduce their favored candidates on Wednesday, without success. Separate from the interim appointment process, candidates also are organizing campaigns to run for the seat this summer. At least three candidates have come forward to seek the Ward 4 office, and the winner of the Aug. 12 election will serve through 2028. Related Articles St. Paul City Council OKs 90-day extension for trash site Former legislative aide sues Council Member Anika Bowie, city of St. Paul St. Paul mayor declares state of emergency on trash collection St. Paul City Council convenes but doesn’t appoint new Ward 4 member Divided St. Paul City Council recommends new Ward 4 appointee for Friday vote ...read more read less