By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Pelham City Council will interview 10 candidates for the city’s open council seat during a Feb. 13 special work session at Pelham City Hall.

The announcement came during the council’s Feb. 6 meeting, which was several weeks after former Councilman Mike Dickens resigned his council seat to become Pelham’s municipal court administrator.

During the interviews, which will run from 7-9:45 p.m., council members will interview candidates Rick Wash, Jim Phillips, Harold Watson, Thomas Davidson, Rick Hayes, Mildred Lanier, Maurice Mercer, Bob Sullivan, David Ladewig and Ron Scott. The 10 candidates previously submitted resumés, a list of three references and letters of interest.

After the interviews, the City Council likely will vote to appoint one of the candidates to the open council position during a Feb. 20 meeting. The new council member will serve the remainder of Dickens’ term, which will expire later this year.

The interviews are open to the public, and will feature the same series of questions for each candidate.

During the Feb. 13 special work session, the council will also hear a presentation “regarding (the city’s) staffing and workload analysis,” from ICMA Research and Development Director Leonard Matarese. Matarese’s presentation will begin at City Hall at 5:30 p.m.

In other business during its Feb. 6 meeting, the council also voted to table a motion to appoint a member to the city’s Personnel Board. The vote came after the council disagreed over who should be appointed to the board during its pre-meeting work session.