MOORHEAD-Moorhead's city council took a long and circuitous route to doing the right thing Monday, Dec. 12. In the end, one supposes, that's what matters. But history should note that it took a threat from Mayor Del Rae Williams to get the job done.

For some reason, some members are wrapped up in fantasies of shenanigans and partisanship when in fact-as was duly noted by some residents of the city who stepped to the microphone and spoke to the council-it was always about the process used in selecting a new council member to represent the 2nd Ward.

Bottom line: The eight-member council voted unanimously to reject a resolution appointing Melissa Fabian to replace the resigning Jim Haney. The mayor, council member Steve Gehrtz and city attorney John Shockley will decide on a more open process to winnow the unwieldy field of 14 down to three (or four, or five). The council will eventually vote on Haney's successor at its Dec. 19 meeting.

Maybe the end result will be the same. Maybe Fabian will be chosen to represent the 2nd Ward for the remainder of Haney's term, which ends in 2018. It's a distinct possibility. And that's OK.

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The point that the tone-deaf majority of the council missed is that the city sent out a note to the candidates outlining a process in which three finalists would be named at the Dec. 5 meeting and those three people would be publicly interviewed at Monday night's get-together. When the full council-every last one of them-voted to expedite the procedure and get it done in one night, the end result smacked of insider trading.

There was no discussion, no public interviews, no input from 2nd Ward residents. Four members of the council who don't live in the ward-Gehrtz, Mike Hulett, Brenda Elmer and Nancy Otto-selected Fabian based solely, they said, on a resume and questionnaire she submitted along with the other candidates.

It looked like the same majority was going to dig in its heels at this meeting. After some residents spoke in favor of finalizing Fabian's appointment and others in favor of going through a longer process, council member Heidi Durand, who voted against Fabian last week, mysteriously made a motion to approve Fabian's appointment in the interest of "not going backward." Durand's point was that the council should act next year to fix the confusing process of selecting a new member mid-term, but it shouldn't spend any more time on Fabian's appointment.

She wasn't wrong that the city needs to tighten up its imperfect charter and her enthusiasm to give the nod to Fabian was met warmly by Hulett and Gehrtz. Hulett, in particular, was concerned about buttoning up an appointment before the first of the year. He and Otto leave the council Dec. 31 and it is apparent Hulett feels urgency to seat a new member before then. Why is not clear. Maybe he's worried about the makeup of the new council after its seated Jan. 1.

The mayor and councilors Mari Dailey and Chuck Hendrickson spoke up in favor of slowing down the process to involve more candidates. Dailey apologized to the candidates who were caught unaware by what she deemed the "sudden-impact election" of last week.

Williams had indicated via e-mail to the council that she would veto the resolution to appoint Fabian, if it came to that. When asked at the meeting if she was going to follow through on that threat, she said she would.

And that's when the council came to its senses. It took a threat.

Starting with Hulett, the members who moments before spoke so strongly in favor of pushing Fabian's appointment through in such a hurry began to indicate they would honor the mayor's veto threat. Gehrtz talked about unity and said, "I think it's important we come together."

Elmer, a Fabian supporter who had stayed quiet throughout the meeting, saw the light, too. She said she didn't know about the message that went out to the candidates and admitted "given the mistakes made" maybe it was best to delay the appointment until everybody had a fair shot.

Elmer and Gehrtz both mentioned their concerns over partisanship entering the selection process, though neither conservative offered details. Perhaps blinded by their concern over a liberal conspiracy, they failed to note that all four councilors who miraculously poked their hands in the air last week for Fabian are Republicans. Almost seems as if they were voting along party lines. Yes, it's true the three who voted for runner-up Shinwar Mayi were Democrats, but Elmer and Gehrtz failed to look in the mirror when dropping the "P" word.

But now is not the time for cheap shots. The council did the right thing. That's good. It will select a new colleague closely based on the process originally spelled out. That's all anybody ever asked for. If it took the mayor speaking softly and carrying a big stick to get there, so be it.