City officials to appoint new District 4 alder, will serve until April 2020

By Joe Bachman
Editor

STEVENS POINT — City officials will appoint a new District 4 Alderperson with the recent resignation of Heidi Oberstadt.

Oberstadt announced her resignation almost two weeks ago citing the pressure to both take care of her newborn child while serving as alder. Her final date would be April 30, 2019.

City ordinance 3.12 requires that in such a case, officials to appoint a replacement until a successor is elected. This process includes posting the position, conducting interviews in an open session, and an eventual vote by council members. This person would remain on council until a successor is elected.

District 4 Alderperson Heidi Oberstadt.

In regards to an election, council would decide between two options:

Holding a special election on Nov. 5, 2019. This would come at a cost of $1,500, as no regularly scheduled elections will be held that day.
The newly elected individual would remain in the position until April of 2020, where the position would already be up for election that year. This would come at no additional cost to the city.

Oberstadt gave her own thoughts on what the city should do to fill her soon-t0-be vacant position.

“I sent my resignation date out 90 days so that council would have some time to make a decision so that the public would have the change to get the word out and finding interested people,” said Oberstadt, who states that several neighbors of hers have already expressed interest in the position. “…part of the reason why I waited, instead of running out and taking care of my son, is because think that filling this position for as long as I physically can would make it easier for us to appoint someone, rather than hold a special election.

I would really prefer not to cost the taxpayers any additional money in holding a special election to fill my seat.”

Obserstadt’s seat would be up for election in April 2020 anyway, making council’s decision that much easier. Members voted unanimously to fill the position by this year.

The city will make an announcement regarding taking applications from interested candidates in the near future. After Oberstadt’s last council meeting, members will hold interviews in a special council meeting to determine would fill the vacant spot.

Qualifications for Alder position: