Councilor Ganey's Resignation Effective Sept. 23

Patrick Ganey's last Northfield City Council meeting was Tuesday.

The first-term councilor announced at the meeting that his impending resignation, which Patch first reported about last week, would become official on Sunday, Sept. 23.

Ganey, who represents Ward 4, has accepted a job with Middlebury College in Vermont. He came to Northfield nearly 20 years ago and has worked as a development officer for Carleton College since 2003.

Councilor Betsey Buckheit told Patch that Ganey will be missed when he leaves.

“He made an immediate positive impact on the Council when he was elected two years ago. I will miss his careful preparation, incisive consideration of issues and overwhelming commitment to ensuring local government serves the community well,” she said. “The rest of the Council and I have been fortunate to have such a warm, thoughtful colleague and I wish Patrick and his family the best in their new adventure.”

Filling the vacancy

The Council will need to appoint someone to fill his seat for the remainder of 2012 and all of 2013. A special election will be held in November 2013 to elect someone to finish out the fourth and final year of Ganey’s term.

It'll be the second time in about a year that the Council will need to appoint a replacement.

The Council in December 2011 appointed Ivan Imm to fill former Councilor Kris Vohs’ seat, who resigned in November of that year. In that case, there was about a five-week turnaround between Vohs’ announcement and Imm’s appointment.

A big difference between last year’s resignation is that Vohs, as an At-Large candidate, represented the entire city. When he resigned, nine community members came forward to fill the vacancy. In Ganey’s case, only Ward 4 residents will be able to apply to fill the vacancy.

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