A replacement for resigning Carbondale Mayor Joel Fritzler has been named.

In a special session of the Carbondale City Council Tuesday, Councilman Don Monty was approved in a 6-0 vote as the interim mayor. Mayor Fritzler did not vote.

Fritzler announced his resignation Jan. 14. He officially leaves office Feb. 3.


Monty will take office Feb. 4, at which point he will resign his council seat and the process of selecting a replacement councilmember will begin.

He said he hopes to fill the vacant seat by March 4.

Following the vote, he distributed a tentative framework of a schedule to replace the open seat. He said he hoped to put the schedule in place by the next meeting of the council.

Monty said he would like for potential nominees to submit a résumé and letter of interest so the council could review all of the possible candidates. He said there were certain characteristics he wanted to look for in a potential member such as previous involvement in the community.

“It’s just like what voters look at when they’re trying to elect someone,” he said. “I think it’s important that the person has skills that they have demonstrated in their work life or private life that would indicate they are willing to work with people and try to solve problems.”

Monty said he wants a full council in place to discuss what he feels is the most important issue at hand: the city budget.

“In the short term, the most pressing matter is how to deal with the city’s budget,” he said. “I think most people are aware, most local governments in Illinois are facing serious economic challenges. It’s going to be critical for the city council to deal with that not only in the short term, but in the long term.”

Monty said he plans to work within the community and with the council, something he’s been doing since he started as an intern in the mayor’s office some 30 plus years ago.

“I don’t think, in my personal view, that the mayor should be looked at as some all-powerful person that can do everything by the mayor’s self,” he said. “Under the council-manager form of government, the role of the mayor is actually tightly limited, and I intend to follow the state statutes on what a mayor can do and what you expect a professional staff to do.”

The vote went through with relative ease, save for one minor incident. Councilman Lance Jack raised concerns over whether or not Fritzler was permitted to vote for his replacement.

According to state law, the council nominates and approves an interim mayor in the event of the current mayor’s resignation with less than 28 months left in the term. Jack said while he fully supported Monty, he was concerned Fritzler was not permitted to vote, as he would not be considered a member of city council as of his resignation.

“Like I said, I’m pretty easy with however we go on this,” he said. “I just would really like to make sure it’s hammered out and we’re doing it according to the law and according to the intent of the law.”

City Attorney Mike Kimmel was asked to explain the statute and said while Fritzler was allowed to chair the meeting and take motions from the council, he did not think the law allowed Fritzler to vote.

After discussing the matter for a short time, Fritzler conceded his vote to move the meeting along.

The Carbondale City Council’s next meeting is Jan. 28, when Monty hopes to discuss a schedule for selecting a new councilmember.

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @EgyptianRich or at 536-3311 ext. 258