Council vacancy filled Monday

A special meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council will be held on Monday to select a candidate for appointment to the vacated council seat.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 2000 Main St. (at Yorktown Avenue) or in virtual format via Zoom webinar.

The vacancy was created when Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz – elected in November 2020 – resigned from his post in June.

According to the city clerk’s office, 190 people submitted applications for the job. Council members held interviews with prospective appointees at two special meetings last week.

Among the leading candidates are:

• Matt Fertal, former city manager of Garden Grove
• Jill Hardy, former Huntington Beach mayor and city council member
• Oscar Rodriguez, 2020 council candidate who finished fifth (top three candidates were elected) in balloting
• Gracey Van Der Mark, 2020 council candidate who finished fourth in balloting.

A regular meeting of the council is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the Council Chambers. The agenda for that meeting was not available at the time of writing this article.