The Cypress City Council has already announced a plan to appoint a resident to replace a member of the City Council who resigned last month, but the attorney who sued the city and forced it into single member districts is saying proceed with caution.
Council member Scott Minikus, who was appointed by the Council to replace former Council member Stacy Berry upon her resignation, resigned last month to move out of state to accept a new job.
The City Council this week, according to a press release, has invited citizens from throughout the city to apply for the position, ruling out a special election and also allowing citizens city-wide to apply, not simply limiting the candidates to District 5, which was represented by Minikus.
According to the city’s statement, the application period opened on Oct. 14, and it closes Oct. 30. A list of information that interested citizens are required to submit is available on the city’s website. Their term will expire in 2026.
The statement clearly says to qualify, citizens must only be registered to vote and “reside within the corporate limits of Cypress.”
In short, while the city has created districts for Council members to represent, and although they ran by district in the recent election, the Council is allowing residents “at-large (meaning they can live anywhere in the city)” to qualify for the position.
The Cypress City Council will review candidate materials and select candidates to be interviewed during its regular meeting on Monday, November 10, 2025, at 5 PM.
Selected qualified candidates will be interviewed at a public special meeting of the City Council to be held on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at a time to be determined.
For questions or more information regarding the appointment process, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (714) 229-6680 or citycouncilapplications@cypressca.org.
While Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman has not necessarily disputed the selection process, he has written to Cypress’ legal counsel Fred Galante to take issue with what Council members have been told, at least according to the minutes of the meeting.
“The staff report largely recites the law concerning council vacancies correctly. However, the staff report also recites your opinion “that pursuant to Cypress Charter § 403(c), CMC § 2-140(d), and Government Code § 36512(b)(2)(B), a mid-term vacancy in a seat originally elected at-large may be filled at-large (citywide) for the unexpired balance of that term; no district-residency or district-electorate limitation applies mid-term.”
“While it is true that the remainder of the at-large-elected term vacated by Mr. Minikus may be filled by appointment of a resident residing anywhere in Cypress, the same is not true if the vacancy is filled by a special election. Such an at-large election would violate the judgment in Southwest Voter Registration Education Project v. City of Cypress.”
Shenkman also claims in the letter that estimates given to the Council for the approximate cost of $900k for a special election given to the Council “is high.”
While this estimate, in my experience, is high even for an at-large election in a city the size of Cypress, it is almost certainly an estimate for an at-large election, not a district election. The cost of a district election with an electorate approximately one-fifth of that for an at-large election is likely much less.
A special at-large election for the vacant seat would be a violation of the court-ordered settlement agreement, said Shenkman in the letter.
“I hope that we are not required to take legal action to enforce the judgment in Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, et al. v. City of Cypress. Either way, we will continue watching the political transformation of Cypress with great interest,” said Shenkman.
Galante said when asked about the letter, the issue is “moot” and that he never received the letter.
Cypress Mayor David Burke said on Tuesday confirmed that the city has indeed ruled out a special election and will simply “select the candidate we think can best serve the citizens of Cypress.”
If the resident chosen to fill vacancy does not live in District 5 (represented by Minikus) they will not be able to run for re-election in that distric but they would be eligible to run in any of the other districts in which they reside.
Burke said also that he had not yet seen the Shenkman letter and said it would not serve any purpose to engage in “hypothetical situations.”
He said the self-nominations will move forward and the Council will vote on the best applicant.
Cypress is scheduled to hold elections for Districts 1,2 and 5 in 2026.