Jim Compton’s resignation from the city council, effective January 6, gives council members an opportunity to appoint - and haggle over - a successor. The council has 20 days after Compton’s resignation to appoint his replacement. If they fail to pick a successor, they’re required by law to take a vote on the issue every business day until they do. Appointing a new council member requires a majority vote, and the decision can’t be overturned by a mayoral veto.

The council could choose to make its decision in private, or it could give all the contenders their three minutes at the mic. That’s exactly what happened when council member John Manning resigned in 1996, when 103 candidates showed up to apply for the spot. (Ultimately, a candidate who was not among the finalists - Richard McIver - took Manning’s place.)

Here’s where things get interesting. Under city law, if Compton’s successor wants to stay on the council, he or she will have to run for the seat twice - once in 2006 (the next regularly scheduled general election) and again in 2007. And since there’s no guarantee the new council member will have the same opponent both times, that means running two campaigns - and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars - twice in two years.

All of which suggests that what the council might decide to do is appoint a “caretaker” - a placeholder on the council who has no intention of running again. One person who’s been mentioned as a possible caretaker is former city council member Tina Podlodowski, who was seen in the council’s reception area this morning. A caretaker council member would give the council a verbal assurance that they weren’t interested in holding the seat permanently, but would be under no legal obligation not to run if they changed their mind.

One scenario that seems unlikely is that the council would appoint one of the three council candidates who failed to win election this November - Dwight Pelz (who ran against McIver), Casey Corr (who ran against Jan Drago) or Paige Miller (who ran against Richard Conlin.) Corr and Miller fared poorly in November; and Pelz, whose name has been circulated as a possibility, would likely be opposed by McIver.

So far, at least a dozen folks, including onetime Judy Nicastro opponent Darryl Smith, mayoral staffer Tim Durkan, and South Park environmental activist Charlie Cunniff, have reportedly been making calls to council offices “before the body is even cold,” in the words of council member Nick Licata.