Hugh Allen, appointed to City Council Tuesday night, decides to withdraw; members may reorganize at next meeting

By Ed Martin, Editor
The Lemoore City Council, including Chad Billingsley, in July.
The Lemoore City Council, including Chad Billingsley, in July.
Gary Feinstein/Feinsteinfotos

In a surprising development, Hugh Allen, whom city council members Tuesday night appointed to the Lemoore council seat, has decided not to accept the post. Allen announced his decision in a late Wednesday afternoon press release.

In the release, Allen notified city officials that he had reconsidered. “After last night’s meeting and careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw as a candidate from District E for the great city of Lemoore.”

The release added that the city would revisit District E applicants from the eligible list for an appointment at the August 20 council meeting.

The Lemoore City Council is also expected to hold a reorganizational meeting at its next scheduled gathering on Aug. 20. At Tuesday’s meeting, the council’s Dave Brown and Stuart Lyons, buoyed by an additional member when a local teacher and volunteer firefighter Chris Schalde was appointed, handed the city manager a consensus vote to schedule the reorganizational meeting.

Commonly, reorganization occurs following the regular election cycle, every two years. While the mayor pro tem slot has remained vacant since Chad Billingsley resigned last month, council members could select a new pro tem and replace the mayor.

It’s unclear if the council will have a full slate for the next meeting. In a surprise development Tuesday night, council members, failing several times to come to a unanimous agreement, ended up selecting Allen to replace Holly Blair in District E.

Allen left the council chambers well before the final votes and failed to return.

“We have two new people coming on, and they should have a voice in who they want as the mayor or mayor pro tem,” said Brown. “We have to restructure. For us to have transparent government, we should bring up the conversation. We should let the council decide.”

Brown added that he expects the council to take another look at the various boards and commissions on which each council member sits.

“The restructuring could remain the same,” he continued. “It’s possible someone will nominate a new mayor. We gave Nathan Olson (city manager) consensus of council to put this on the agenda for the next council meeting. Council members are going to vote on who they want as mayor or mayor pro tem.”

Neal told The Leader he supports a more diversified city council. His initial pick, Shelly Reese, a Lemoore resident who works for the Santa Rosa Rancheria, failed to garner the necessary votes. What followed next was a series of failed votes before council members finally settled on Allen.

While lamenting a lack of council diversity, he seemed to bemoan the fact that there are now two volunteer firemen on the city council, one of whom he voted for Tuesday night. “It’s not that diverse,” he said.

He also suggested that he may have voted for Tom Reed, one of the applicants who unfortunately could not attend Tuesday’s meeting. Reed is a familiar face at council meetings. “I would have liked to see Tom Reed in there. If Mr. Reed was there, I would have voted for him,” said Neal.

Several in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting seemed perplexed by the council’s direction, particularly by the selection of Allen who wasn’t in the audience when the council approved his selection. But overall, the applicants, according to Brown, were highly qualified.

“My initial feelings were that we had some good candidates,” he said. “Everybody has their opinion. The way I looked at it, I nominated Schalde, and my thing was that when he made mention how he’s looking at the entire city and not just being zoned in on one part of the city. He commented that he was looking at the entire city and its development. People can disagree, and I can understand that. I looked at everybody’s qualifications and where they want to take the city. My thing is that a council member needs to take a look at the entire city.”

Hugh Allen, appointed to City Council Tuesday night, decides to withdraw; members may reorganize at next meeting

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