LIHUE -- The Kauai County Council has scheduled a special council meeting for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17, to appoint a new councilmember.

A vacancy will be created that morning when Council Chair Bill "Kaipo" Asing resigns from the Council to be sworn in as mayor. Asing will replace former Mayor Brian Baptiste who died June 22 after undergoing heart surgery at The Queen's Medical Center on Oahu.

The remaining members of the Council are empowered under the Kauai County Charter to appoint a successor to fill the vacancy. The appointed individual will serve out the remainder of Asing's term, which ends Dec. 1.