Thumbnail: Councilor Daran J. Dooley, middle, resigned last month, meaning that his former colleagues are now tasked with appointing his successor. | File photo by Aisling Bludworth
Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:
Vacancy: Though one member of the public argued for leaving the seat vacant until next year, city councilors directed staff to begin advertising for a replacement for Daran Dooley, who resigned on Oct. 21.
According to City Attorney Martha Rice, the new appointed city councilor would serve until the November 2026 election. At that point, the seat would be up for a vote and whoever won the election would serve until the term ends in November 2028, the city attorney said.
The alternative was a special election that could be done in the spring through mail-in ballots or in conjunction with the November 2026 midterm election, Rice said. The current City Council could also choose to leave the position vacant until November 2026, the city attorney said.
According to Rice’s staff report, if the Council had decided to hold a special election to seek a replacement, it would have had to call for a special election within 60 days of the vacancy. That election would then need to take place by April 8, 2026. The estimated cost of a standalone election would be between $33,000 and $40,000, Rice stated, citing county elections official Alissia Northrup.
After councilors Isaiah Wright and Jason Greenough said that though they didn’t want the city to bear the cost of a special election, leaving the seat vacant for a year wasn’t an option, City Manager Eric Wier said staff would start urging people to apply for the appointed position.
“It would be out for four weeks or so,” he said. “There would probably be interviews, maybe the first week of December, and then there would be action taken by the Council in the second meeting of December.”
Noting that councilors rarely disagree on the decisions they make, county resident Sam Strait argued for keeping the position vacant.
“It would seem the most sensible move for the Council would be to punt and wait until November of 2026 and see who the people decide they want to have representing them,” he said.
Councilor Candace Tinkler, however, pointed out that with winter flu season looming, having two elected officials absent could result in canceled meetings, which would “cost the taxpayers money.”
Dooley, Tinkler and incumbent Jason Greenough ran unopposed in the 2024 election.
ADU regulations: Councilors unanimously approved updated regulations governing accessory dwelling units after planning consultant Ethan Lawton warned that the city could get “dinged” if their ordinance was updated.
Lawton, an SHN planner who is contracted with the city, said officials with the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Policy Enforcement Branch notified him that the ordinance was out of date.
“I said we will update it in the future and they said, ‘(That’s) not good enough,’” he said. “They need it updated by the new year.”
According to Lawton, not updating the new ADU regulations to be in line with changes made at the state level could impact updates to Crescent City’s housing element, its access to funding as well as its Prohousing Designation.
Crescent City was one of 10 California communities to receive the Prohousing Designation from California Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024. According to City Manager Eric Wier, the city received about $650,000 for housing developments as a result of that designation. It’s also using about $1 million in Permanent Local Housing Allocation dollars to further development on four housing projects, he said.
“At our next meeting, those projects will be before the Council with a recommendation of awarding those funds,” Wier said. “There has been some real dollars tied to that and how closely this ties to us having that (funding) revoked remains to be seen. They did reach out directly to us to make sure we were going to be in compliance.”
The updates are based on changes to state law, according to City Attorney Martha Rice. ADU regulations are now found under a new section of the government code, she said. The state has also changed the definitions for junior accessory dwelling unit, livable space, multi-family dwelling and efficiency unit.
There are new setback requirements, increased height limits if the development is near a major transit stop as well as updated exemptions, Rice said.
“Most significantly is that existing multifamily dwellings can now have up to eight detached ADUs on a lot” she said. “However, it can’t have more than the number of units already on the lot. If it’s a duplex, it can have two detached units. If it was a four-plex, it can have four detached units. If it was an eight-plex or more it can have eight detached units. That’s probably the biggest substantive change, however given the lot sizes in Crescent City and our current multifamily units, it’s probably not an issue that will actually affect us.”
The city’s updated ordinance will be forwarded to Housing and Community Development for review to ensure it’s in full compliance. Rice said staff may come back to the Council with future revisions.
New Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem: Mayor Ray Altman nominated Isaiah Wright to be his successor for the 2026 calendar year.
Altman also nominated Councilor Candace Tinkler to Wright’s previous position on the City Council, mayor pro tem. Both appointments were unanimous.
The mayor is tasked with presiding over City Council meetings. If he or she cannot be present or is unable to act the mayor pro tem will serve as an alternate. Along with the city manager and finance director the mayor and mayor pro tem are both authorized signers on any city-held bank or financial institution accounts. They also attend agenda review meetings.
The mayor is also tasked with appointing to boards, commissions and committees.
Wright had previously been mayor in 2023. Tinkler was elected to the City Council in 2024.
