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Treasurer? Mm-hmm.

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Now you have to be quiet. No, that's all right. I'll probably call- No.

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Now you can talk, right?

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Amy, can you hear us since you're front? We can hear you, please.

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You get her.

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You go first. Didn't I know? What happened the last time?

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Amy's taking her son to Idaho. No, I know, but- He's online. Is she? She is online.

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Hey. Yes.

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Can you hear me?

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Yeah. Can you unmute yourself, or do I have to unmute you?

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You have to unmute me, and you also have to allow me to turn on video

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if you want me to have my video on.

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I don't know if I can change the video right now.

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Hold on.

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Oh. So is Cindy not coming? Okay, try that.

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We're going to put this vacant.

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Okay, there we go.

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It's quiet.

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I'm going to see if I can mute and unmute myself.

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You're quiet.

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Let's see.

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You can leave that door open.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah, I think I'm good now, Michelle.

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Okay, perfect.

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Thank you, everybody. I'd like to call to order the special meeting of the Victor

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City Council, Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, 10:00 a.m.

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Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the

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Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with

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liberty and justice for all.

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Thank you. Here in council chambers in person, we have Councilor Hulsing, Councilor

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Sustek, and online on Zoom, we have Councilor Moss.

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Thank you, Amy, for making time to be here today.

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I prepared a written statement, so forgive me.

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I just want to make sure I say everything I want to say.

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Thank you to everyone who applied for this vacancy and to everyone who took the

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time to write, attend, listen, and participate. We had six qualified applicants.

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One, Charles, has withdrawn his application.

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Each person brought real strengths, experience, and showed deep care for Victor,

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and this was really not an easy decision.

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For the record, Idaho Code 50-704 requires the mayor to nominate a person to fill

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the city council vacancy, subject to confirmation by the council.

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It does not require an application process or establish an application deadline.

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We chose to use an application and interview process as a way to invite qualified

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Victor residents to step forward.

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I understand the criticism of the extension of the application period because there

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was confusion about the exact time applications were due.

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The extension was public, it applied to everyone, and it did not guarantee any

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application, a nomination, or appointment.

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I sought guidance from the Association of Idaho Cities who confirmed there was not

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a legal issue with extending the deadline, though the optics should be weighed

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carefully. That being said, those in opposition to extending the deadline did not

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offer any other substantive reasons to disqualify applicants who missed the

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original deadline.

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Focusing back on the qualities that we shared publicly as important for this

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appointment, I've carefully considered knowledge of current Victor issues,

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demonstrated judgment, preparation, humility, and the ability to work

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respectfully with people who disagree,

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relevant civic, volunteer, professional, financial, land use, infrastructure,

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nonprofit, and community experience, respectful communication, and a commitment to

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representing the whole city rather than a single issue or faction.

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There's also the practical reality of the next 12 to 18 months.

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Victor has major collaborative work ahead in regional infrastructure decisions,

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land use decisions, comprehensive planning and coordination with other cities and

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county officials, and staffing changes.

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This requires someone to jump in and immediately get to work.

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Prior disagreement with the city was not disqualifying.

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However, recent adversarial litigation and other actions which speak louder than

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words involving the city was a relevant governance consideration when assessing

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whether an applicant could support majority council decisions and work

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constructively with staff council and the public to help the city move forward

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productively if and when decisions that reflect carefully considered trade-offs are

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not unanimous.

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This appointment is temporary. In the November 27 election, Victor voters will

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decide who continues in the seat, and I encourage everyone who applied for the

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nomination to run. For the past week, I've struggled over two choices, Erica

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Linnell and Bonnie Chambers.

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Bonnie brings valuable civic experience, professional knowledge, architectural and

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land use perspective, nonprofit and volunteer service, and a steady collaborative

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demeanor. Her background gives her a practical understanding of planning community

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facilities, local government, and the challenges facing small rural mountain

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communities. She also brings a fresh perspective at a time when Victor is

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challenged with lowering the temperature so we can execute serious work.

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Erica brings deep knowledge of Victor's current issues, civic and professional

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experience, a long history of community service, and the ability to speak directly

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about the hard trade-offs facing this city.

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In her application and interview, she identified the need to balance competing

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needs, make decisions for the broader public good, and communicate those decisions

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clearly, even when not everyone agrees.

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Her background includes local business ownership, executive leadership, board

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service, program supervision, emergency response experience, and longstanding

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involvement in the Teton Valley civic and nonprofit work.

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Extensive public comment in support of her nomination also emphasized her ability

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to think strategically, work collaboratively, move ideas from vision to

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implementation, and remain grounded in the realities of growth, infrastructure,

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housing, economic vitality, recreation, and community identity.

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Before I make a nomination, I want to say something broader to the council and the

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public. Healthy disagreement is not the problem.

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Good decision-making is not possible without it.

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But tearing each other down and the broader effort of tearing the city down is

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neither the path to good governance, community building, or our shared goals of

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stewarding this special place. Assuming bad faith, attacking motives, and treating

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every decision you don't agree with as evidence of corruption or conspiracy will

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not help Victor succeed. I challenge everyone to believe it is possible to ask hard

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questions, disagree strongly, and still uphold the standards of this body and

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expect accountability without making public service unbearable for everyone who

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steps forward. All applicants have expressed interest in supporting the city going

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forward, and we need your help, your experience, your influence in the upcoming

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comprehensive planning process.

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After reviewing the full record, the interviews, public comment, and my needs, the

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staff and council needs, and the city as a whole,

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at this moment, I am nominating Erica Linnell to fill the vacant city council seat,

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subject to council confirmation.

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A motion to confirm this nomination and if seconded, we'll open the floor for

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further discussion before a vote.

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I thought we were going to hear from Emily.

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What?

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Say what you were asking again.

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Oh. So one thing that's typical that we haven't been doing in our council

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is we happily have a motion made, and then we have discussion.

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Do you want to have discussion first before the motion in line with that?

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I don't care either way.

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I'm happy to share. I

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was thoughtful about the interviews.

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The question that I had submitted to the interviews was a question about

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two reasonable people in conflict.

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And I was really tuned into the way that people responded to that question,

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wasn't the only question I was tuned into, because I think it demonstrated what I

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heard from people is this kind of integrative both/and thinking that the mayor

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spoke to, that it's not as simple as this or that, or either/or.

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That

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we're at a moment where we really have to acknowledge that there's not wrong and

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right. There's both. There's a lot of feelings, there's a lot of opinions here,

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and all of those are valid and need to be integrated, and we need to be thoughtful

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about them.

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At the end of the day, I saw that the most from

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the two nominations that we made, actually.

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I saw it from Bonnie in

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the examples that she cited, and I also was tuned into that at the end of the

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conflict that she presented. She was decisive.

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She took decisive action, which is something that we all have to do here, and we

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all have to live with those decisions and then go on to the next one.

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And sometimes there's consequences and sometimes,

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we can learn from those decisions, and sometimes they're the right decisions, all

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of that, but we ultimately are just take decisive action. So I appreciated that.

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And I really appreciated about Erica...

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Hang on. Sorry, I took a lot of notes.

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Oh, God.

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Sorry, I took so many notes

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about all the candidates.

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Okay, so one thing that stood out for me that Erica was talking about was she--

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There was another question, and that question asked you to pick a side of an issue

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and describe what made you change your mind.

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And she highlighted that that was a pretty complicated thing to do

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because ultimately, there is place for both of those things, that it's not a

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binary that we're working in here.

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And she cited that ultimately though, if we are going to make

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change, we really have to go back to our tools.

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We go back to the comprehensive plan. She specifically cited the code.

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Maybe there's an issue in the code that we need to look at, that we're not going to

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make a decision based on one case, that we're going to look overall and that we're

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going to look to the tools that we have.

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And so, that's just the example that I'm offering.

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From that, I fully agree with the mayor that I think that it is

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important at this moment that folks be coming in clear-minded

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about the topics. I think that

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Cindy and you, Carol, both demonstrate real passion, real care, that I

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genuinely believe is true for this city.

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And I think that past

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ways of

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discussing opposition-- Or sorry, engaging in opposition,

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did not demonstrate to me the leadership that I think the city needs at this

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moment. And so I would support your nomination of Erica Linnell, and I would move

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to appoint her.

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Second.

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Motion's been made and seconded,

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by Councilor

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Cesek, and seconded by Councilor Hulsing, to confirm Mayor Susan Pacher's

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appointment of Erica Linnell as council member to serve until the next general

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city election in 2027. Is there any further discussion?

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I just want to also say thank you to everybody who brought

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the willingness and a fresh face

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to take this on. And I actually hadn't read that Charles withdrew his

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application because I was at work and didn't see that.

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But I appreciate that he even thought about joining.

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Carol, I think in a perfect world, I would love to live in your world where

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butterflies always run free .

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But I think Erica's going to bring a strong, independent voice, and she has,

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as we've seen, a ton of support.

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And

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I think

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her strength will be a great asset right now.

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Amy, you on the floor?

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I have no further comments.

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Do I need to repeat? What do I need to do right now for procedure?

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The motion's been made and seconded. You can just take a roll call vote.

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The motion's been made and seconded.

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Councilor Hulsing?

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Aye.

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Councilor Cesek?

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Aye.

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Councilor Ross?

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Nay.

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Motion shows two in favor, one opposed. The motion carries.

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Thank you all. Erica's not able to be here this morning to

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take the oath of office. She's teaching a class at Purple Life

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Studio. So we will do that on August 26th at the regular

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meeting.

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I'd take a motion to adjourn.

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I move to adjourn.

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I second.

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Motion's been made and seconded to adjourn. All in favor?

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Aye.

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Aye.

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Thank you all. The motion for the meeting is adjourned.

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Good job.

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Thank you.