The Anaheim mayor’s chair has been empty since Harry Sidhu’s resignation, and it could stay that way until voters choose a new mayor this fall.

The City Council will discuss what to do about the vacancy at its June 21 meeting, after members were unable to agree on a course of action Tuesday, June 7.

Council members also punted a decision on proposed campaign finance reform measures to the next meeting because some of them wanted more information and they couldn’t reach consensus on the best approach; Councilman Jose Diaz was absent because of a COVID-19 infection.

But with federal investigations of Sidhu and former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Ament casting a shadow on the dais, the council did move forward Tuesday with requesting a wide-ranging, independent investigation of whether campaign contributions influenced decisions on contracts or approvals received from the city, and what (if anything) elected officials and city executive staff knew about alleged outside influence.

Regarding the lack of a mayor, the council appears to be faced with two choices: appoint a sitting council member to serve in the position until November, when it will be up for election; or stick with the status quo, which includes Mayor Pro Tem Trevor O’Neil fulfilling basic duties such as running council meetings, for six months until voters can fill the seat.

Councilman Jose Moreno said he sees the mayor as someone who speaks on the council’s behalf, sets a tone for the council and staff, and helps the city through difficult times.

“It’s to me a fundamental and essential position for a city of our size to fill as urgently as possible,” he said Wednesday.

After numerous residents suggested he should be appointed mayor given his history of challenging the council majority, Moreno on Tuesday nominated himself, but none of his colleagues seconded the proposal. He doesn’t support elevating any of the other five council members to the post because he said they’ve accepted campaign money from the same powerful interests that allegedly held sway with Sidhu.

Moreno said Wednesday he’d get no political advantage in being appointed mayor, because as a second-term councilman he’s barred from running for two years after he leaves office.

O’Neil (who hasn’t hit the eight-year term limit) on Wednesday didn’t rule out a run for mayor, but said “it’s not what I’m focused on at the moment. Right now I want to make sure that city services can continue to be delivered uninterrupted and we work on restoring the public’s trust in their local government.”

He stressed that to keep things as they are wouldn’t confer the mayor’s full powers on him; he’d just chair council meetings and sign documents. And, appointing any current council member to the mayor’s seat would leave their council district unrepresented, he said.

“My sense is that we’ve already been through enough change and turmoil, and it’s best left for the people to decide who they want their next mayor to be,” O’Neil said.

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Along with the mayor decision and further discussion of tightening campaign finance rules, the council will likely hear at its next meeting more about hiring an outside firm and other next steps toward the investigation that could make clearer whether elected officials and staff crossed any any legal or ethical lines.

City spokesman Mike Lyster said Wednesday that staff is drafting the possible scope of the probe, which would include a forensic audit of campaign contributions to people who served on the council during Sidhu’s tenure as mayor (the current six council members, plus former members Denise Barnes, Jordan Brandman and Lucille Kring) and what if any connections they have to lobbyists, contracts or any council actions.

Lyster described it as “an overarching review” that also would look at top-level city staff – including himself – “to make sure there’s no impropriety with direction, with city contracts and any concerns there may be with contributors or undue influence.”