City council is accepting applications for an interim alderman position that will be left vacant by 7th ward Alderman Monica O’Leary’s upcoming resignation.

O’Leary submitted a letter of resignation via email Saturday, which was read by Mayor John Rey at a City Council meeting. O’Leary said in an earlier email to Rey she would resign on Oct. 2.

“Regretfully, I am resigning my position, and it has [nothing] to do with anyone from the [city] of DeKalb,” O’Leary said in her resignation letter.

City Attorney Dean Frieders said Rey should appoint someone to hold the seventh ward post until 2017.

“Within the research and advice that … City Attorney Frieders has presented this evening, I do anticipate bringing forward an appointment of an alderman to represent the seventh ward until the consolidated election of April 2017,” Rey said.

According to Illinois law, the mayor is responsible for appointing a temporary alderman within 60 days of the resignation. Once the mayor appoints someone, the mayor and council are required to approve the appointed alderman within 30 days.

The appointed alderman will only serve temporarily until a 2017 special election is held to fill the position for the remaining two years of the term. The elections will return to its normal voting schedule for four-year terms in 2019.

Filling alderman vacancies

Frieders said DeKalb should abide by Illinois law rather than city law on filling the alderman vacancy because the DeKalb ordinance is unclear and unconstitutional.

“The current section 2.03 can’t be followed in the fashion that it’s drafted,” Frieders said. “That’s the uniform opinion of the city, the city board of elections and the county.”

The ordinance states that a special election shall be called to fill in a vacancy, but the ordinance does not provide details regarding the process of such an election. Calling a special election at a time when state-wide elections are not taking place would also conflict with the Illinois Constitution and Illinois Election Code.

“The past practice of the city has been to not follow that section of the city code,” Frieders said.

DeKalb had a vacancy in 1995 when 1st ward Alderman Donald Roth Jr. resigned after three months. Rather than complying with section 2.03, the city appointed Amy Polzin until the 1997 elections. Polzin was then elected to a two-year term.

The City Council did not address whether or not it will amend the ordinance.