Decorah City Council decides to make appointments to fill council vacancies

Two empty seats on the Decorah City Council will be filled by having the city council make appointments.

The 5th Ward seat on the city council is now empty because former 5th Ward city council representative Randy Schissel has switched to representing the 1st Ward after beating Jarrad Walter in the recent election. City council members on Monday night decided to post a public notice in the newspaper that would allow them to fill the 5th Ward vacancy on December 2nd.  City council members indicated they would appoint Charles Lore--the winner of November 5th's city council election in the 5th Ward--to take office one month early, filling the current vacancy left by Randy Schissel's switch to 1st Ward.

The city council also agreed to make an appointment--this one in January--to fill the seat that will be vacated by the departure of at-large representative Rachel Vagts.  Vagts plans to resign as of December 31st to move to Kentucky.  City officials will accept applications for the at-large city council position, with an eye toward having the city council name a replacement for Vagts at the first city council meeting in January.