The city of Nampa isn’t much closer to picking its new mayor after a contentious city council meeting late Monday afternoon.
Nampa city council members didn’t agree on much during the special session as they tried to fill the shoes of the late mayor Rick Hogaboam who died unexpectedly last month.
A proposal to interview potential candidates next week and another to appoint former council member Darl Bruner to the position both failed on tie votes.
Bruner recently retired from Northwest Nazarene University after working as the school’s director of alumni relations for 30 years.
He served on the Nampa City Council during the COVID-19 pandemic, at one point comparing mask and vaccine requirements to racial segregation.
“His leadership style has been outlined, his objectives have been solid and he’s going to be one that I believe will take us through this next 18 months without any political motivation,” said Councilman Sebastian Griffin.
A third option to only interview Bruner and the city’s current chief of staff, Clay Long, never even got a vote.
Council President David Bills abruptly ended the meeting after Councilwoman Natalie Jangula said each member should be able to propose a candidate.
“I’m not OK going through a process and not allowing everyone equal opportunity,” Jangula said after apologizing for getting emotionally choked up.
The group did agree on one matter: they will not take applications for Nampa’s next mayor.
“There’s a lot of opportunists out there that would never run for an election and all of a sudden they want to be mayor and I don’t understand that,” said Councilman Dale Reynolds.
A plan prepared by city staff proposed taking open applications for the position, with council members reviewing and interviewing candidates over the next month.
The draft envisioned council voting on an appointment June 1 and a swearing in ceremony following shortly after.
It’s unclear what steps the council will take next, though members say they want to fill the position soon.
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