Residents seeking appointment to Greg Goodman’s vacated Haines Borough Assembly seat must submit a letter of interest to the borough office by 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 8.

The assembly will hold a special meeting 6 p.m. Monday, June 13, to make the appointment. The appointee will serve until the October municipal election, when the elected candidate would earn a term through October 2013.

The assembly on Tuesday voted 5-0 to move forward with the appointment process instead of a special election.

Borough attorney Brooks Chandler recommended an appointment and said a special election wouldn’t meet a borough code requirement that assembly vacancies must be filled within 30 days. He said a minimum of 45 days must pass between approval of an election resolution and an election.

“That puts us really close to the regular election, so I’m kind of leaning against that, just because of the expense to the borough,” said member Joanne Waterman.

Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip Pallenberg earlier this month declared Goodman’s seat vacant and ordered the borough to set another election. The ruling concluded Goodman did not meet borough residency requirements by the time he ran in last October’s election, following a brief move to Anchorage for employment.

Karen Hess, who successfully challenged Goodman’s candidacy, already has announced her intention to run for the seat. She also has submitted a letter to the borough expressing interest in appointment to the assembly.

Hess ran as a write-in candidate in the October election and trailed Goodman, 575 votes to 456.

Also on Tuesday, the assembly met in executive session for about an hour to discuss a settlement offer from Hess, who is asking for reimbursement of her legal fees. Five people testified in support of Hess at Tuesday’s assembly meeting.

The assembly gave borough attorney Chandler direction on how to proceed with the settlement offer, but no specifics were discussed in open session. Assembly member Scott Rossman voted against moving into executive session. Hess attended Tuesday’s assembly meeting but did not participate in the executive session.

After a December executive session, the assembly authorized reimbursing Goodman up to $1,500 of legal fees incurred in connection with the administrative appeal for the lawsuit.