By John Kiesewetter
Enquirer staff writer

MIDDLETOWN - Robert "Sonny" Hill Jr.'s City Council successor will be selected next month from residents who fill out the city's application form.

Hill's term as Second Ward representative expires Jan. 1, 2006. The former mayor and council member died Tuesday of bone cancer.

Because the city charter does not specify how to fill a vacancy, Mayor Bob Wells said interested Second Ward residents should use the city application. They also should attach a resume, he said.

Those wishing to be considered for the seat must be registered voters in the Second Ward, Wells said.

Applications are available at the council office at the City Building, One Donham Plaza, downtown. The deadline is July 9.

Council will review all the submissions and assemble a list of finalists, Well said. Final interviews will be conducted in public by council, he said. A new council member could be appointed late next month, Wells said.

Hill, 69, was the only African-American on the seven-person council. He also was the city's first African-American mayor, serving from January 2001 to January 2003.

The owner of Robert Hill and Sons Plastering Co. was elected to the Second Ward seat in November 1993, in the city's first council election by districts under a 1990 charter revision. He ran unopposed in 2001, his last election.

---

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com