Tim Wheeler submitted his resignation from his elected post on the Ripon City Council effective Nov. 10.

He cited family reasons for the move at Thursday’s special season. “This was a tough decision,” said Wheeler, who attended the meeting via remote.

He was elected in November 2020 – Wheeler, who was the newcomer, along with incumbents Leo Zuber and Daniel de Graaf were the top vote-getters among the five candidates.

Elected leaders accepted Wheeler’s resignation and provided direction to staff to proceed with the same process used back in 2014 when Elden “Red” Nutt died suddenly and a provisional appointment – Mark Winchell was selected by Council – following a screening of those seven candidates interested in filling the vacancy.

“It worked out really well,” Zuber said. “Everyone in town knew what was going on.”

He added: “The results were the best we could’ve gotten.”

City Attorney Tom Terpstra said Council has 60 days from the vacancy to either appoint a new council member or call for a special election, according to Government Code.

A special election, he noted, could cost somewhere between $50,000 to $80,000 – per San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters office – based on the variables.

Wheeler is scheduled to attend the Nov. 9 meeting before officially stepping down.

The City of Ripon could look to post a public notice in The Bulletin on the vacancy after that, opening the door for interested candidates.

A special meeting would later be held to review matters before interviewing and possibly the selection of a replacement by the Dec. 2 meeting.

The provisional appointment could then take the oath of office at the Dec. 14 meeting, and would be required to run in the 2022 election in order to complete the remaining two years of Wheeler’s term.