RANCHO SANTA FE — After several deadlock votes at the Oct. 5 Rancho Santa Fe Association meeting, Mike Gallagher walked away as the newly appointed board member. Gallagher is filling former board member Mike Licosati’s seat, which will come up for re-election in June 2018. Licosati, whose primary residence has shifted from Rancho Santa Fe to Solana Beach, resigned on Aug. 23.
The board was at a standstill five times, with members locked 3-3 in a tied secret vote.
It took the board six attempts, and an impromptu adjournment to executive session, before the tie vote broke and Gallagher was nominated.
According to Association Manager Bob Hall, seven candidates initially were in the running although one withdrew.
“The quality of these candidates are incredible, and this is a wonderful thing,” Hall said. “It’s exciting to have so many who want to serve this community.”
The names of the candidates remained confidential out of consideration for those who were not appointed.
Board President Fred Wasserman told Covenant residents that each board member interviewed the candidates in the vetting process. While the names were not released, Wasserman indicated there were two female and four male candidates.
“It was a real difficult process to pick when you have such good people,” Wasserman said.
Gallagher was in the audience and thanked the board.
Hall thanked all of the candidates and said he hoped that they would evolve to be on other committees in the Association.
“We do need the participation,” he said.