Biggs City Councilmember Doug Arnold wants to help the city.

BIGGS, CA (MPG) - A special Biggs City Council meeting was held Tuesday, Dec. 3 to appoint a new council member. The City Council vacancy was due to the resignation of Chuck Nuchols on Oct. 10.

Three applicants were considered for the position: former council member Douglas Arnold, Emily Martinez and James Wilson. Each was allowed five minutes to present their qualifications and then answer questions from the public in attendance and the other council members.

Arnold, who previously served on the City Council for 12 years, began by saying that much had changed in Biggs since he was on the council. Arnold continued by expressing his sadness at some of the problems that the city has faced.

“I just think I can use my experience from the years that I was here to help the city get back on track,” Arnold said.

Arnold was on the Planning Commission for eight years prior to serving on City Council. In addition, Arnold worked for the county for many years in the engineering department.  He was also a union representative, involved in working with employer and employee negotiations.

Doug Arnold is sworn in by City Clerk Roben Benish as a new City Council member for the City of Biggs.

Questions from the public ranged from how to save the city money, transparency and generating revenue. Arnold was asked if there would be a conflict of interest with his daughter working for the city, to which he responded that it would not be a conflict. Arnold added that if it ever became a problem, he would recuse himself from the matter.

A special point was also clarified that the city budget was balanced while Arnold served.

“We had to put our heads together to make sure it got balanced,” Arnold replied. “Some hard decisions had to be made.”

Martinez and Wilson both discussed reasons for wanting to be a part of the council and fielded questions.

The council voted 3-1 in favor of Arnold. He was then sworn in by City Clerk Roben Benish.

When asked why he wanted to step up to the job, Arnold replied, “I’ve been involved in the city for a lot of years. I’ve just seen it struggling for the last few years. I just felt like I could come in here now and maybe help out a little bit, help get things back on track.  I love this little town. I hate to see it suffering. My kids have grown up in it. I just hope I can help work with these guys, they’re good guys, put our heads together and we can get out of this.”