Larkspur council to call special election to fill vacancy

The Larkspur City Council has decided to call a special election to fill a vacancy left by longtime councilmember Kevin Haroff, who resigned last month.

After voting down a proposal on Wednesday to call the special election this November, the council directed staff to make preparations for a March race.

“A lot of people are going to be voting in March,” said Mayor Gabe Paulson, noting that it is a primary election. “I’d rather it be competitive with a lot of voters because this is going to be for the remainder of Kevin Haroff’s old term.”

Haroff, who resigned because he moved to Novato, was elected in November with more than three years on his term. He wrote a letter to city officials on June 2 about his planned departure. His resignation took effect June 30.

The council held a special meeting June 23 to consider whether to fill the vacancy through appointment or an election.

If the council chose to make an appointment, that candidate would only serve until the voters elected a replacement in November 2024.

The council favored calling a special election, but were undecided on whether it should be this November or in March.

Councilmembers Catherine Way and Kevin Carroll said they were concerned that disagreements on the council would result in split votes disabling officials from making progress on city work.

A November election would cost the city an estimated $55,000 to $65,000, City Attorney Sky Woodruff told the City Council on Wednesday. A March election would be about $13,000 to $27,000, he said.

“And that’s largely because there will be many more items on the ballot in March, whereas, November would likely just be a Larkspur election.”

Councilmember Scot Candell said he was in favor of the March election because “it saves us $40,000, which I think is not insignificant; there will be a bigger voter turnout, which I think is important.”

Candell said it would also provide more opportunity for residents to learn about the role and how to apply, potentially increasing the pool of candidates for a more competitive race.

Way said she was persuaded.

“I am a little concerned that we’ve had some pretty split votes, but we may have to just table some controversial issues until we have a full docket here,” Way said.

“I don’t think we will necessarily get more candidates for March,” Carroll said. “The more I thought about it, I just really feel the sooner we let the voters decide, the better.”

Carroll motioned to call for the special election on Nov. 7, but it was shot down on a 3-1 vote.

At its July 19 meeting, the council is expected to vote on a resolution calling for the election on March 5.