OCEANSIDE, Calif. - Nadine Scott, who lost the Oceanside City Treasurer's race to an opponent who passed away, hurled numerous accusations at the Oceanside City Council on Wednesday.
"It's always disappointing to lose anything," Scott said. "But when you don't lose it in a fair election, I feel that justifies my behavior, my campaign."
Scott's is accusing some Oceanside City Council members of knowingly deceiving voters when they campaigned for incumbent Gary Ernst. He died too close to Election Day for the county Registrar of Voters to remove him from the ballot.
Councilman Jerry Kern said it was a way to keep Scott out of office.
"It's not like we were hiding anything," Kern said. "It was pretty big news. There was no fraud; it's just people didn't want her."
Ernst won by less than 2,000 votes.
Now, there's an empty seat at City Hall, and the council faced a costly dilemma Wednesday. It could either call a special election for $500,000 or appoint a replacement.
Scott demanded to be their immediate pick, but Kern said it doesn't work that way.
"I came in second, I should get a trophy or something? That's not going to happen," Kern said.
The council instead voted to appoint a replacement by next month.
Per City News Service, Oceanside City Manager John Mullen said Scott was invited to apply for the position.
Scott said she's still not sure if she'll send her resume.
The application deadline is Jan. 7, followed by interviews by the council on Jan. 11. The new treasurer could be sworn in on that day or at the council's regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 18.
