Nampa City Council holds emergency meeting to plan next steps after mayor’s death

NAMPA (KIVI) — City leaders in Nampa held an emergency council meeting on Thursday to address how day-to-day operations will continue following the sudden death of the city’s mayor, Rick Hogaboam.

Flowers now sit inside Nampa City Hall — in the lobby, and at Mayor Rick Hogaboam’s seat in council chambers — as city leaders begin navigating the loss of the mayor, who, according to the Ada County Coroner’s Office, died Wednesday night from fluid buildup around the heart— a condition called cardiac tamponade.

RELATED | Nampa Mayor Rick Hogaboam died from cardiac emergency, county coroner says

Without much delay, the council proposed a resolution to designate Council President David Bills as the interim mayor.

Councilman Dale Reynolds emphasized the importance of handling day-to-day mayoral tasks, saying, “We have to have somebody that does the day-to-day check signing, that kind of stuff, so it’s important that we pass that resolution today.”

The council passed the resolution unanimously, and Bills is now acting mayor until a permanent candidate can be identified.

“So we anticipate as a council weighing out the options ahead,” said Bills of the upcoming process to appoint a new mayor. “We don’t have a road map of exactly how to go forward, but we’re going to be thinking about individuals who have been in leadership in city government. We’re going to be looking at who we think might be able to serve.”

But Thursday’s action was only the first step.

The larger question now is who will ultimately fill the seat — and how the City Council gets there.

Councilwoman Natalie Jangula said they hope to have something concrete in place by the end of April and believes council members can come together on that decision, even in the middle of grief.

“As far as moving forward, I think that the constituents can know and have trust and faith in the fact that we are prayerfully seeking guidance for this and that we will come together,” said Jangula.

Following the meeting, the City of Nampa announced that the Hogaboam family will hold a memorial service to honor Rick Hogaboam’s life at the Ford Idaho Center on Tuesday, Mar. 31, at 5 p.m.

To help Hogaboam’s family during this trying time, consider donating to their GoFundMe page.