Kodiak Assembly takes up its vacancy rewrite Thursday, with the public hearing Sept. 17

Kodiak Island Borough would start the clock on filling a vacant Assembly seat the day it accepts a resignation, and would let residents apply online, under an ordinance up Thursday.

The 30-day deadline for making an appointment does not change. What changes is when the counting starts.

Borough Clerk Nova M. Javier wrote the ordinance and brought it to a work session last week. Her memo says the aim is to make filling open seats "simpler, clearer, and more organized."

Under the proposal, the clerk publishes notice of a vacancy and takes applications for 14 days, closing at 3 pm on the last one. Applicants use an official form and certify that they are qualified borough voters, that they have lived in the borough a year, and that they will file a financial disclosure with the state if appointed. The form has to be notarized.

An appointed member would serve until a successor is elected and takes office. If fewer than 90 days remain in a term, no appointment is made at all.

The borough last did this in July, after Dave Johnson resigned effective June 25. At a special meeting that day, Javier told the Assembly that "by code, we need to make the appointment 30 days after you declare the seat vacant."

Thursday's vote only sends the measure to a public hearing, set for Sept. 17.