Frankfort is on track to have a new mayor on February 22.
The steps to replace Frankfort’s mayor were outlined by Frankfort Board of Works member and Rotarian Jim Sigfried in Thursday’s Rotary meeting at Arborwood.
Step 1: Chris McBarnes writes a letter of resignation to the County Clerk. This was reportedly done Wednesday January 29.
Step 2: The political party chairman (Jim Moyer) of the resigning Mayor (Republican Party) announces a caucus to decide who will replace the vacated office.
Step 3: Eligible Caucus members for this City office are Chairmen or Vice-Chairmen of the 19 Frankfort Precincts. If the Chairman or Vice-Chairman for any district can not attend the meeting, that precinct will be listed as absent and no vote will be made for that precinct.
Step 4: Interested Mayoral Candidates must live in the City Limits of Frankfort, submit a letter of interest to Republican Chairman Jim Moyer and preferably attach a resume of qualifications to this letter of interest.
Step 5: All qualifying letters of interest must be submitted to Party Chairman Jim Moyer 72 hours or more prior to Caucus.
Step 6: The new mayor must be elected by 51% of the Caucus.
Step 7: The mayoral candidates at the Caucus each have 3 minutes to address the caucus. The Candidate has the option of having someone speak for him or her at the Caucus.
Step 8: If there is not 51% of the vote for any candidate on the first round of ballots, the lowest vote candidate is dropped and a new vote is taken. This process continues until 51% of the caucus votes in the new Mayor.
The Date announced for the Caucus is Saturday February 22 at 10:00 AM. This is a closed meeting open to eligible caucus members only.
Note: This process happens several times each year for various positions county-wide due to deaths, moves, resignations, etc. It does not happen often for higher offices such as Mayor.