During the Nov. 13 meeting of the Holbrook City Council, the council was informed that a special meeting would be held on Nov. 20 to canvas the votes and swear in Phil Cobb as the newly elected mayor in the recall election against Mayor Bobby Tyler. Mike Nilsson won against Councilman C.J. Wischmann and will be sworn in on Nov. 27. Cobb won the election with 775 votes over Tyler’s 502 and Nilsson won with 819 votes over Wischmann’s 497.

“The way the elections fell, we could not canvas the ballot tonight, but the votes do have to be canvassed within 20 days of the election, which is why I scheduled the vote for next Tuesday,” said Interim City Manager Cher Reyes. Reyes noted that Nilsson is out of town on vacation but he will be sworn in at the Tuesday, Nov. 27, meeting. “The most important thing is the canvassing of the election, which is where the council votes to agree with the results the county has provided us.”

Reyes said that she did not have the cost of this recall election for the taxpayers of Holbrook, but as soon as Navajo County sends her the bill, she will release that information.

Even though the city just finished an election, on Nov. 9, Reyes said the packets for the next election on Tuesday, Mar. 12, became available on Nov. 9 at City Hall. The packets must be turned back into City Hall by 5 p.m. on by Wednesday, Dec. 12. For that election a total of five seats will be open, including one for the mayor and four council member seats.

In addition to the canvassing of the votes at the meeting on Nov. 20, the first public hearing for the Alternative Expenditure Limitation (AEL) also will be held. It is required that there be two public hearings on the AEL and then the council will vote on a resolution that allows the AEL to be put on the ballot. Reyes said this has to be done by Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Councilman Tim Dixon asked for an explanation of the AEL, to which Reyes replied, “The state sets spending limits for cities and towns and they can’t spend more than that. The AEL is voted on by the people and we establish an expenditure limitation, which sometimes matches what the state says we can spend and sometimes it is higher. But the citizens of the city get to make that choice.”

For more information on election packets, stop by City Hall at 465 N. First Ave. or call (928) 524-6225.