Five vie for Brooksville City Council seat

Four others have applied to fill the empty Brooksville City Council seat with five candidates total vying for the position.

Following the 5 p.m. Monday deadline, city officials report that Brent Gaustad, Shannon Dempsey, Herman Scriven and Jason Sharp all submitted applications to sit on the council along with Frankie Burnett, a former Brooksville council member.

Another candidate, Scott Renz, also submitted an application, but it was rejected due to his living outside the city limits.

Dempsey, who sits on the city planning and zoning board, wrote that she would not be seeking election to fill the seat full-time, but rather would like to sit on the council in the interim.

In his letter to the city, Gaustad said he has 22 years experience in education as an economics and government teacher with a keen interest in politics. He's also currently assistant principal of Hernando High School.

Scriven and Sharp meanwhile only divulged in their applications that they are interested in serving on the council. Sharp ran against Joe Johnston III and Burnett in the 2008 city council election, coming in third in the election.

City staff are now set to review the remaining applicants to ensure they meet qualifications by having lived in the city for at least a year and are registered voters. City council members are then scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, to decide which of the applicants would fill the seat left vacant by David Pugh, who resigned earlier this month.

Prior to the selection, council members are expected to vote on a second reading to change city ordinance concerning the filling of council vacancies.

During last week's special city council meeting, council members narrowly approved an amendment that would allow for a temporary assignment to fill the position until the next scheduled election - in this case, in November.

That means the applicant accepted for the seat would hold it until that individual or another candidate was elected during the General Election.

Currently the city ordinance calls for a special election within 90 days of the council members' absence. In the case of Pugh's resignation earlier this month, a special election would need to be held before Saturday, April 10 at an estimated cost of $25,000-$30,000 to taxpayers.