CLIVE, IA – June 27, 2025 – The Clive Objections Committee has unanimously determined that a special election petition submitted to fill a seat on the Clive City Council is invalid.  The decision was made by the committee at their meeting on June 26.  The full decision is attached.
 
On May 22, Breanne Hocker was appointed and sworn into office as a member of the Clive City Council.  She filled a seat formerly held by Councilmember Srikant Mikkilineni, who resigned in April.
 
On June 2, the city received a petition to fill the council vacancy through a special election rather than an appointment. Then, on June 9, the city received an objection to the special election petition. Following the procedures outlined in the Iowa Code, the council formed an objections committee to review the objection and petition.  The committee was formed at the June 12 Clive City Council meeting. The committee members were Mayor John Edwards, City Clerk Matthew Graham, and Councilmember Ted Weaver.
 
The Objections Committee met on June 19 to receive public comments and begin reviewing the petition and objection.  That meeting was continued to June 26, at which point the committee made its decision.
 
The committee found that some signatures were invalid because the petitions were left unattended on porches for anyone to sign, and that the petitioners did not show that only valid electors signed the petition. 
 
The committee also determined that the special election petition was not submitted before the applicable deadline.  The city’s Publication of the Notice to Appoint was made on March 17.  According to the Iowa Code, this initiated a 14-day period during which a petition could be submitted to fill the council seat by special election.  The deadline to submit a petition was March 31.  The petitioners submitted their documents on June 2.
 
Councilmember Hocker will continue to serve on the Clive City Council.  The seat will be on the ballot in the November 2025 general election.
 
The record of the objection committee's activities is available here: https://imaging.cityofclive.com/Public/Browse.aspx?id=785700&dbid=0&repo=Clive-Laserfiche-Repository
 
The June 19 objection committee meeting recording is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVuEVxjQp4
 
The June 26 objection committee meeting recording is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-T7LXw-3Z