The James City County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to start accepting applications for an interim Powhatan District Board member.
Current Powhatan Supervisor Jim Icenhour recently won the election to serve in the Jamestown District that he now resides in after a recent redistricting. When he shifts to his new seat (a move he will make by early December), the Powhatan seat will be empty. The Board voted Tuesday to start accepting applications for the seat, and instructed staff to advertise the position starting Wednesday.
The Board faced a similar dilemma in January, when it had to temporarily fill the vacant Jamestown seat that was left empty when Supervisor John McGlennon won an election for the Roberts district, which he ended up in after redistricting. At the time, the Board accepted applications from interested citizens and interviewed all the applicants in a formal, televised interview process in February.
The Board will accept applications from current Powhatan District residents through Dec. 7, and it will discuss the process it plans to use to select a candidate at its next meeting.
Supervisor Jim Icenhour said last week he wanted to hold off on assuming his new role in order to keep Supervisor Wilford Kale in the Jamestown seat, which will give the Board a few more weeks with five members. Icenhour hoped to have enough members to get the application process started, and not face the same long delay as occurred last year.
At that time, the Board had a vacancy until March, as the split four-member Board could not agree on an interim and the decision finally rested with the Circuit Court.
Information on how to apply for the new role are available on the county website.
