HAGERSTOWN, MD - Hagerstown city council and the mayor are one step closer to filling a vacant seat on council.

Current Councilmember Kristin Aleshire is giving up his seat to serve as a Washington County commissioner.

The Hagerstown city council is no longer accepting applications; They were due by 4:30 PM Monday.  However, it looks as though the city will have quite a few candidates to choose from.

16 people have submitted applications to fill the upcoming vacant council seat in Hagerstown.

Mayor Bruchey said that it “Looks like we have a good field of candidates to choose from and I believe that we'll be able to find the right one for the fit of this council and administration.”

The list includes people from all walks of life, including a school counselor and a financial analyst.  Quite a few of the applications are retired, totaling 13 males and three females.

Ralph Mauriello, who applied for the city council seat, said he actually thought there would be more.  “This has been a volatile year for the democrats--The democrats around the country, in local, city, state, and federal.  And I thought there'd be more people who would want to get involved.”

Ralph Mauriello is just one of the applicants hoping to serve on the council.  NBC25 spoke with two other candidates vying for the spot--both who are interestingly enough related to current council members.

“I hope the current council picks the best candidate.  If I'm not that candidate then I certainly will respect that decision.  On the other hand I hope being married to a current council person doesn't hinder me either,” commented Steven Cromer, who applied for the council seat.

Another man who applied for the seat, Gary Swartz, said “They can surely vote for themselves on issues--A family member has a right to run like anybody else and they should have the right to vote.”

At this time there are no rules prohibiting relatives from serving together on council.  The next step in the application process continues December fifth when Mayor Bruchey and his council will begin interviewing candidates. The pool of applicants will then be narrowed down and qualified candidates will be interviewed in a closed-door session December 12th. 

The following week on the 19th a candidate will be chosen and sworn in.

NBC25 tried to contact all candidates for this story but could not reach everyone.

Mayor Bruchey told NBC25 he and the council will begin looking at applications during Tuesday’s meeting.