SPIRIT LAKE - With just three months on the job, Spirit Lake Mayor Todd Clary is making decisions he never imagined this soon.

After resignations from City Council members Shelley Tschida and Ken Johnson this week, Clary, who took over for Roxy Martin as mayor in January, is gathering nominations to submit to Gov. Butch Otter so a third council member can be appointed and give the board a quorum to make decisions.

"The governor's legal counsel has asked that the mayor submit two to three names and the governor will review those names and will probably make an appointment from that list," said Nancy Stricklin, city attorney. "The governor may wish to contact those individuals and interview them in making his decision."

After a third council member is appointed, Clary will then nominate someone for the fourth seat. The nomination will be voted on by the council.

"This is not what I expected, but we'll continue to move forward," Clary said of the resignations. "What happens happens. We'll deal with it."

Clary said he has approached others, including council members and business owners, about recommendations to submit to Otter. But he would like to submit those as soon as possible because the council will need to have the ability to make decisions soon, including for a flood plain ordinance.

"We need to get this done," he said.

Clary declined to discuss any possible recommendations that have surfaced as they may change or others may be added.

Stricklin said it would be nice to have an appointment made before the next council meeting on April 13 so the council can make decisions.

Clary, who couldn't be reached for comment on Tuesday, said on Wednesday he doesn't buy Tschida and Johnson's resignation reasons pointing to his ways of managing the city.

"I'm going to call bull," Clary said. "(Current councilman) Jim Brown, Ken and Shelley were in agreement through all of the election and stuck together. They had three out of the four votes on the council."

The mayor only votes to break a tie on the council.

Johnson said his decision also had to do with him having to close his motorcycle shop, which he partially blames on lack of local support because of his council position. He recently moved to Priest River and is seeking work.

Clary, who defeated Tschida in a runoff election for mayor in December, said he was "completely surprised" with Tschida's resignation despite her being the target of a recall petition by some residents.

"The last time we spoke I thought we were on good terms and discussed the project for Spirit Shores," Clary said. "I reiterated that I'd need her help in getting that accomplished.

"As far as I knew, we were moving past all that election stuff and moving forward."

Clary said that he and Tschida have disagreed on some issues on the council for eight years, but disagreeing is part of government.

"We've always worked through things in the interest of the city," he said.

Clary and the council members had differing opinions on ideas for change such as a line-item budget and hiring a city administrator and growth.

Tschida said she became the subject of negative talk around town among some political groups and Clary's supporters, but the recall was not a reason for her resignation because she doesn't believe it would have succeeded.

Clary said Johnson's resignation wasn't as surprising since Johnson spoke with him about the possibility two weeks ago when the business was closing.

Tschida, who owns Quality Services Inc., a forest management company, was in her third term as a council member and had about a year and a half remaining on her term. Johnson was elected to the council in November.

Both of the new council appointees will only serve until the next city election.