Five days after William McCarty’s unexpected passing, the remaining four Isle of Wight County supervisors gathered in the basement of Smithfield’s Windsor Castle manor house to decide a difficult but necessary question: how – and how soon – to fill his seat on the board.

McCarty, 48, who’d represented the Carrollton area on the board since 2016 and served as pastor of Healing Waters Worship Center, died suddenly of double pneumonia on Jan. 25, just over a year into his third four-year term in office.

“We can’t replace William McCarty; we can appoint another person,” Board Chairman Don Rosie said. “… We all lost a friend.”

During the hour-long Jan. 30 special meeting, the board voted unanimously to hold a special election on Nov. 4, which would coincide with this year’s gubernatorial, attorney general and statehouse elections.

County Attorney Bobby Jones said under state law, when a vacancy occurs the remaining board members have 15 days, or until Feb. 10 in this case, to petition the county’s Circuit Court for a writ of election. Selecting a date earlier than Nov. 4 would have limited the window to before April 23 or between June 17 and Sept. 10, as state law prohibits special elections within 55 days of any primary or general election. The county also would have had to foot the cost of holding a third election this year.

Jones said the board has the option of appointing an interim representative to fill McCarty’s seat until the special election, provided it makes that appointment within 45 days of the vacancy, or by March 11. He said the board’s remaining members have the option of nominating someone themselves or soliciting applications, provided the person appointed is a registered voter who resides within the former Newport voting district, now District 2.

The appointee would have the option, but not be required, to run in November for the full two-year remainder of McCarty’s term. He or she would have until June 20 to file paperwork to get on the November ballot.

Jones said under state law the board must announce its nominee or nominees in a public meeting at least seven days prior to voting on the appointment, but does not have to hold a public hearing on the matter.

The supervisors discussed picking either a sitting member of one of the county’s other boards and commissions, such as the Planning Commission, or from a pool of applicants to those bodies.

“We have people who routinely will apply for Planning Commission or certain specific boards,” said Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson.

Smithfield’s Town Council used a similar process in late 2023 when filling two then-vacant seats through last year’s Nov. 5 election. In 2023, the town solicited applications for three weeks via Smithfield’s online “talent bank” form, announced five finalists on Dec. 1 of that year, and voted Dec. 19 to appoint former Councilman Jim Collins and former Councilman Raynard Gibbs.

The supervisors have proposed a quicker process. They tentatively plan to discuss the pool of applicants during a Feb. 6 work session, which can but isn’t required to be done in closed session, according to Jones. They plan to announce a finalist or pool of finalists in open session during a special Feb. 12 or Feb. 13 meeting, which would allow the supervisors to vote on an appointee at their regularly scheduled Feb. 20 meeting.

Supervisor Joel Acree said the quick turnaround is needed to have a full board in place as soon as possible to start its review of the School Board’s and county’s proposed 2025-26 budgets, which typically reach the supervisors in late March or early April. The board typically votes on its budget, tax rates and annual appropriation to the school system by mid-May.

The appointee will also be involved in hiring a replacement for Keaton, who last year announced his intent to retire on or before Aug. 31.

At the Jan. 30 meeting, the supervisors also voted unanimously to adopt a resolution honoring McCarty ahead of a scheduled 2-4 p.m. visitation on Feb. 1 at Healing Waters and 11 a.m. funeral on Feb. 3 at World Outreach Worship Center in Newport News.