Tempe City Council gets 49 applicants to replace ousted member

PHOENIX – The Tempe City Council will be busy in the coming weeks sorting through dozens of applicants seeking to replace ousted member Kolby Granville.

The city said in a press release that 49 people beat Monday’s deadline to apply for the position, which opened up when the Council voted April 12 to remove Granville from office over allegations of sexual assault and providing alcohol to minors.

The Council plans to discuss the applicants Thursday in a closed executive session and chose some of them to be interviewed May 2 during a public work study session.

Finalists will then be discussed in an executive session.

The Council will vote on the appointee and hold a swearing-in ceremony at the May 9 regular meeting.

The new member will serve out the remainder of Granville’s term, which runs through July 2020.

Under city ordinance, the Council had the option of appointing a replacement within 30 days of Granville’s ouster or calling for a special election within 90 days.

Granville was removed by a unanimous vote more than a year after the city first investigated claims that he provided alcohol to two former female students at Tempe Preparatory Academy, where he worked as a teacher.

One of the accusers also alleged that he sexually assaulted her after she graduated from the charter school.

Granville was fired from his teaching job in December 2017, a month before the allegations were made public.

The Phoenix Police Department investigated the allegations but closed the case in January 2018 because no victims wanted to press charges.

Attorney Sarah Barnes, who was hired by the city to investigate Granville for code of conduct violations, said he told her never gave alcohol to minors.

But Barnes also said Granville “never unequivocally denied” other allegations she questioned him about.

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