At least three residents are ready to claim a seat on the Anna Maria City Commission.
As of Nov. 20, Kathleen Morgan-Johnson, Pat Olesen and Sharon Wisniewski submitted applications seeking to succeed Robert Kingan and Deanie Sebring.
Sebring resigned and moved away in October. Her seat will remain vacant until a successor is chosen to serve the remainder of her term, which runs through December 2024.
Meantime, no one qualified to run for the seat occupied by Kingan, who elected not to run for a second term in November.
His term will expire in December and his successor will step into a full two-year term.
Unlike Kingan, Commissioners Charlie Salem and Jonathan Crane sought reelection as incumbents and were the only people to qualify for two of three commission seats available in this year’s election.
There has not been a contested municipal election in Anna Maria since 2017, when four candidates battled it out for three seats on the commission.
The process to find and appoint successors began Nov. 1 as the city started taking applications and forum questions from the public.
The window to apply will close Friday, Dec. 15, although the public will have until Wednesday, Dec. 27, to submit questions.
The questions will be provided to applicants by Friday, Dec. 29, so they can prepare for a forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive.
The forum will allow applicants to introduce themselves and answer questions, similar to a process used in January to appoint Salem, who filled a seat vacated by Carol Carter.
However, the upcoming forum will allow attending members of the public to ask the applicants live questions, those submitted to the city, and for clarification about an applicant’s answer.
The commission — which will have three members by Jan. 11 — will vote to appoint two members at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25.
Whoever receives the most votes will choose between the one- and two-year terms, leaving the other term to the applicant with the second-most votes.
To qualify for a commission seat, people must have maintained a residency within the city for at least two years, be a qualified voter of the city, and cannot be employed by the city or hold any other municipal office.
City commissioners receive a $4,800 annual salary.