Scott Zerby Appointed to City Council

Watch the council meeting video of the appointment discussion. 

Shorewood council member Patrick Johnson resigned in May. Because the remaining term was less than two years, the city council chose to appoint to fill the seat leading to an application and interview process completed on 6.26.23. Seven residents were interviewed for the opening. Former Mayor Scott Zerby was appointed to the open seat.

Background on Zerby:  He served as Mayor from 2012-2020. Two 2-year terms and one 4-year term, all unopposed. Source: MN Secretary of State.  In 2014 he led the Council to change the Mayor’s term from two to four years, making his final term four years.

• City staff determined that some online applications were lost in the application system. The original June 9 application deadline was extended to June 20.
    
• Two of the nine applicants withdrew before their interviews.
  
  
• Each work session interview was 15 minutes:  Introductions were made. Council members asked random questions or remained silent. Questions were not consistent among applicants. 
  
  
• There was a wide variation of candidates with local, national and global experiences offering a unique opportunity for a small city like Shorewood to bring broad expertise and perspective to the council.
  

Why no special election?  Watch the City Administrator’s explanation here

The Council discussed the applicants later in the evening at the regular meeting. An informal poll for each council member’s top three candidates showed support for Nat Gorham from all four council members.  Former Mayor Zerby made the list for three

Council member Callies and Mayor Labadie supported  Zerby, while CM Sanschagrin and CM Maddy stood with Gorham. CM Maddy praised Gorham, saying Gorham should be in office because he had lost the Nov. 22 election by a mere 10 votes. 

CM Maddy questioned whether CM Callies or Mayor Labadie would change their votes for Zerby. After a resounding “no,” Maddy made a quick pivot away from Gorham, announcing he would be the tiebreaker, and then voted to select Zerby. There was little discussion on the remaining candidates and the council ended up voting 3-1 for former council member and Mayor Scott Zerby to fill the vacant seat.