Syracuse City Council picks new member to replace Rep. Lisonbee
The Syracuse City Council picked Jordan Savage, pictured here, to fill out a vacancy created when Karianne Lisonbee stepped down from the body to take a seat in the Utah House of Representatives. The council picked Savage Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017, over 14 other candidates.
Jordan Savage was selected to fill a vacancy on the Sryacuse City Council, created when Karianne Lisonbee stepped down from the body to take a seat in the Utah House of Representatives. The council picked Savage Tuesday Feb. 14, 2017, over 14 other candidates.
SYRACUSE — A new member has joined the Syracuse City Council, filling the seat left vacant when Karianne Lisonbee stepped down to take up a spot in the Utah House of Representatives.
The council on Tuesday picked Jordan Savage over 14 other hopefuls to fill the post, at least through the end of 2017. The seat will be on the Nov. 7 ballot, with the winner to serve out the final two years of Lisonbee’s term, through 2018 and 2019. Lisonbee won election last year to the District 14 seat in the Utah House and was sworn in last month, a day after resigning her City Council post.
RELATED: Syracuse woman steps down from city council to assume Utah House seat
In applying, Savage touted the importance of preparing for the arrival of the planned north-south arterial that would cut through Syracuse, the West Davis Corridor, and making sure it benefits the city. He also called for an increased emphasis on recruiting businesses to Syracuse and increasing the city’s drawing power.
“We at times struggle to give people a reason to visit Syracuse and become patrons to our business,” he said in a letter to the city council. Savage, a Syracuse resident, works as lead system engineer for L3 Technologies in Salt Lake City.
The four council members considered 15 candidates, including Savage, at the body’s meeting on Tuesday, according to City Recorder Cassie Brown. They narrowed the list to five and ultimately selected Savage unanimously, Brown said. He becomes the council’s fifth and final member.
Before stepping down, Lisonbee had considered maintaining her city council post, in addition to the Utah House seat. That spurred city leaders to investigate the legality of such a scenario.
In light of the turn of events, Jamie Nagle, a former Syracuse mayor, read a statement at the council’s Jan. 24 meeting calling on the body to adopt an ordinance prohibiting council members from simultaneously holding a second elective post.
Brown said the city council hasn’t pursued the matter. “There have been no follow up discussions on that,” she said.
Contact reporter Tim Vandenack at tvandenack@standard.net, follow him on Twitter at @timvandenack or like him on Facebook at Facebook.com/timvandenackreporter.