The City of Woodward has a mayor once again, though now it finds itself in need of a new City Council member. At the regular meeting Monday evening, Council member Todd Folkerts was appointed to replace former Mayor Brian Devick, who resigned in September.

Devick stepped down for health reasons, leaving the Council with a choice to either fill the vacancy by appointment or by special election. Since an election would be costly for the City, they chose the former. Folkerts expressed an interest in serving the remainder of Devick’s term as mayor, and was appointed by a unanimous vote. He was sworn in at the meeting, though anyone who disagrees with the appointment has 14 days from this past Monday to file a petition for a special election.

With Folkerts now mayor for the next year, the City is now tasked with filling the vacancy left on the Council. They have once again elected to go with the appointment route, and anyone who is interested in filling the seat is encouraged to reach out to Woodward City staff. The Council has 60 days to fill the vacant seat, and they’re expected to do so at the meeting on November 12. After that, as is the case for the mayor appointment, residents will have 14 days to submit a petition of opposition.