By Jolene Farley
The weight of deciding who would fill two vacancies on the Beaver Creek City Council fell on the two remaining council members Tuesday.
The resignations of Arnold Brondsema and Julie Buysse forced Jeff Dysthe and Carolyn DeBoer to appoint two new members to serve on the council until the end of 2002.
Before votes were cast, Mayor Al Blank explained the voting process and the length of the terms for those appointed.
Daryl Fuerstenberg, Jane Blank, Burdell Willers and Arlyn Gehrke volunteered to fill the vacancies.
Dysthe and DeBoer both voted for Arlyn Gehrke, while Jane Blank and Burdell Willers each received one vote.
Dysthe and DeBoer voted four more times, each time for Blank and Willers.
With a tie vote that didn't look like it would be broken soon, the council decided to make the final decision at the next council meeting on Tuesday, May 14. Gehrke will also be voting on the appointment.
According to City Clerk Kathy Reu, Mayor Al Blank was advised that, by statute, he could not vote to break the tie. Because Blank is his daughter-in-law, there was a clear conflict of interest.
In elections this fall, voters will elect a mayor, two four-year council members and one council member to complete the two years remaining of Buysse's three-year term.