ORANGE PARK – The resignation of Orange Park Vice-Mayor Eddie Henley means that the remaining four council members have a seat to fill.

At the town’s June 7 meeting, Henley announced his resignation, alleging racial discrimination and intimidation from separate groups. Flanked by more than a dozen people supporting him, Henley walked out about 45 minutes into the nearly three-hour meeting.

Council members, who heard Town Attorney Sam Garrison’s explanation of the charter Tuesday, will discuss the appointment process at a future meeting. It requires a simple majority to approve a new council member. The council member will serve until the Municipal Super Tuesday election in April of 2023.

The town’s charter restricts appointing the potential council member if it is 75 days before an election. However, there is no time limit in the short term to appoint a new council member.

“If they were 73 days away from the Municipal Super Tuesday, they would be able to ride it out,” Elections Supervisor Chris Chambless said. “But because it’s longer than 75 days out for the election, they’re going to fill the seat. They can come together as a body, take applications and make a selection to fulfill that term until the next (Municipal Super Tuesday).”

Chambless said in the past, special elections could occur with municipal vacancies. Special elections are costly and with municipal election turnout sometimes as low as 7%, Chambless said he would hope elected officials received a return on their investment.

“We have to battle apathy and busy schedules, people are graduating and going on vacation,” Chambless said. “It would probably be a very poorly attended election.”

Mayor Randy Anderson, and Council members Alan Watt and Susana Thompson said they wanted a replacement for Henley as soon as possible. Council member John Hauber was unavailable for comment.

Thompson said that the board needs a fifth council member.

“It’s better for the town to have five people on the dais than four when we vote on things,” she said. “Maybe a vote will split, and you end up having a motion not going anywhere.”

As for Henley’s comments, Thompson said she was shocked and she expressed disappointment.

“I’m very sad and disappointed that it happened to him,” Thompson said. “I don’t think anyone should go through that.”

Anderson said the board can operate with four members, but it’s not preferred. It creates an environment where there can be ties on important votes, he said.

“It’s very easy to have a tie, that’s why it’s important to have the fifth member,” he said. “When you have a tie, the motion dies.”

As for Henley’s key points that related to discrimination, Anderson expressed sympathy for the former vice-mayor and said the emails and accusations went too far. He said the nature of public comments during meetings may be addressed in the future, but freedom of speech limits what the town can do.

“I want everyone to understand the emails Mr. Henley read, they came from residents, not from anyone on the council,” Anderson said.

Watt said he’s been through this process twice before: one was straightforward, the other a nightmare. The sooner the better, he added. For his reaction to last week’s events, he repeated he was incredibly disappointed.

“It’s not the optimum solution,” Watt said. “We proved two years ago we can function with four council members.”