The Mill Valley City Council has voted to appoint three new members and cancel the June election, the city announced.

Three available slots on the council were to be up in June, one for two years and one for four years. Three people were nominated for office and completed the necessary paperwork, the city said.

According to the city, in this instance, when there are three spots and three people have filed election paperwork, the California Elections Code allows the City Council to appoint the nominees and cancel the election.

Three candidates for Mill Valley City Council have been appointed to office after the June election was canceled because they faced no opposition. From left are Jim Wickham, Stephen Burke, and Max Perrey. (Photos courtesy of city of Mill Valley and Max Perrey)

The decision is estimated to save the city $45,000 in election expenses.

The three appointees are Jim Wickham, Stephen Burke, and Max Perrey.

Wickham was originally elected to council in 2015 and served for four years. He was then elected in 2019 to fill a vacancy. He served as vice mayor in 2021-22 and with his new appointment, will serve a two-year term. Burke was appointed in September 2021 to fill a vacancy until the next election; he has now been appointed to a four-year term. Perrey has been appointed to a four-year term and serves as chair of the city’s emergency preparedness commission, is co-chair of Sustainable Mill Valley, and sits on the oversight committee of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.

The new councilmen will be sworn into office June 21 at City Hall.

Katy St. Clair, Bay City News

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.