THE HUNTINGTON BEACh CITY COUNCIL – socially distanced – could not agree on how to fill  a council vacancy and decided to try again on Monday (OC Tribune image),

One more try … or maybe the last try.

An adjourned special meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council is scheduled for Monday, July 26 at 6 p.m. to consider filling a vacancy on the council.

Last Monday, the council held a special meeting in an attempt to appoint someone to fill the seat left open when Tito Ortiz resigned his post on June 1. After over two hours of public comments and council discussion – sometimes punctuated by shouts from the audience – a deadlock was reached and an adjournment to another meeting was scheduled.

But the clock is ticking. If the council cannot agree on a replacement by July 31, that inaction would trigger a special election on Nov. 2. The cost of such an election was placed at $1 million by City Manager Oliver Chi.

Because Monday’s meeting is “adjourned,” it’s considered a continuation of the July 19 meeting, so no public comments will be heard.

The meeting will be held both in-person at the council chambers in the Civic Center at 200 Main St. (at Yorktown Avenue) and virtually via Zoom.