The special election to fill a District 3 College Park City Council seat will be held March 11, the council decided Tuesday.
One of the two District 3 council positions will be vacant starting Wednesday due to council member Stuart Adams’ resignation in late December. District 3 includes the Calvert Hills and Old Town neighborhoods.
Adams, who was first elected to the council in November 2021, said he was stepping back to focus on his family and his day job.
The election will be held inside College Park City Hall from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Candidates will have until Feb. 5 to obtain enough signatures to appear on the ballot. Voter registration will close on Feb. 20, city staff said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
The special election’s winner will serve on the council until November’s general city election.
University of Maryland Student Government Association vice president Gannon Sprinkle told The Diamondback he plans to run for the District 3 seat. Adams said he knows of at least one other District 3 resident who plans to run.
Sprinkle was the deputy student liaison to the city council during the 2023-24 academic year and is a junior government and politics major at this university.
[College Park City Council member Stuart Adams resigns]
The council will also hold a public hearing on Feb. 4 for a resolution that would change the process for special elections. March’s election marks the city’s second special election in the last three years.
The resolution, introduced by District 2 council member Susan Whitney, would give the council an option to either appoint someone to fill a vacancy or hold a special election when a council seat is vacated with less than a year before the city’s next general election. Currently, the council can appoint a new council member if a vacant seat opens within 180 days of a general election.
Adams’ colleagues reflected on his tenure at Tuesday’s meeting, which was his last as a council member.
“His diligent work has broken new ground, from a policy perspective, on many new fronts, and moved us forward in ways that I didn’t anticipate we would ever move forward,” fellow District 3 council member John Rigg said. “It was due to his energy, his determination and his intellect that we’re able to do that.”
Adams was an advocate for safer bike paths, affordable housing and stormwater management. He said the timing of his resignation was intentional to ensure that the new council member would be selected before the city budget work session in April.
