T. GEORGE — The St. George City Council voted 3-1 to appoint Vardell Curtis to fill the vacant City Council position in a special meeting Wednesday inside City Hall. Natalie Larsen received the other vote.

Curtis is a member of the St. George Planning Commission and longtime Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the Washington County Board of Realtors. Additionally, he has served as either the president of, or on the board of directors for, organizations such as the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce, United Way Dixie, Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise and the Foundation of Dixie Regional Medical Center.

“I’m ready to focus on the work ahead,” Curtis said. “I believe the best years for this city are still ahead of us. I’m really happy to be part of the preparation, planning and implementation of the actions we take going forward.”

On Monday, M. Rick Erickson was appointed to the Council — yet upon further review, procedural issues with the voting process were raised. Wednesday’s meeting served to correct those issues.

The issues in question were:

·         Utah Code Annotated 10-3b-302 states that the mayor in a municipality operating under a six-member council form of municipal government votes as a voting member of the council on each matter for which there is a tie vote of the other council members present at a council meeting.

·         Utah Code Annotated 20A-1-510 states that the two individuals having the highest number of votes of the municipal legislative body after a first vote is taken shall appear before the municipal legislative body and the municipal legislative body shall vote again.

When the Council met Wednesday, the first vote taken was to decide who would face Curtis in the final deciding vote. Larsen received three votes to Erickson’s one to advance to the final deciding vote against Curtis.

Curtis will be officially sworn in as a City Council member Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. at City Hall.

The next election cycle, which begins this summer with the primaries, will involve this city council seat as well as the positions currently held by Councilman Bryan Smethurst and Mayor Michele Randall.

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