Champaign City Councilman Jim Green announced his resignation from the Council Tuesday night, opening a vacant seat that may be filled by former state representative candidate Deb Feinen.

Feinen, a Republican who lost her Springfield bid to incumbent Democrat Naomi Jakobsson last November, was the first applicant to announce her interest in the position, which must be filled by the Council within the next 60 days.

Green is stepping down after six years on the council and just two weeks after winning his second full term in District 4. He will leave his seat to take a position as a lawyer with the offices of Thomas, Mamer and Haughey, which represents the city in several legal matters. The position would pose a potential conflict of interest with his city council duties.

“The job offer came a couple days before the election, and I made my decision a couple of days afterwards,” Green said. “Obviously the timing of it is rather awkward.”

Green’s resignation will take effect April 23. The city will begin accepting applications for the seat immediately and will operate as an eight-member body until a replacement is chosen. It is the fifth time in 11 years the Council will have to fill an empty seat, Green said.

Feinen said she first became interested in the Champaign City Council after losing to Jakobsson, but she did not run in municipal elections earlier this month because she did not want to oppose Green in her home district.

If Feinen is named to the seat, it may interfere with her grander political plans.

“I’d still like to be a legislator,” Feinen said. “But I’m only 37 years old, so it’s something I’d like to do, whether it means 2006 or 2026. I’m young enough, I have time on my side.”

The timing of Green’s resignation combined with Feinen’s immediate interest in the position sparked theories of collusion and partisan politics, said Champaign Mayor Gerald Schweighart.

“I had people calling right away and asking me about a conspiracy,” Schweighart said. “This council prides itself on not running on party label, but getting done the business of Champaign. Any applicant for this seat will be judged on merit, not party.”

Applications for the open seat were available at Tuesday’s Council meeting and are available on the Web site http://www.ci.champaign.il.us/archive/index.php?where=http://archive.ci.champaign.il.us/archive/dscgi/ds.py/View/Collection-25. Applicants should click on “Post Meeting Study Session” for April 19, then click on the link next to “City Council Vacancy – District 4 Seat.”

The city will accept applications until May 18, then interview candidates on May 31 before making a final decision.

Feinen, who will be in South Africa throughout the second half of May, agreed to appear before the Council at another meeting before she left.

Ryan Ruzic, sophomore in LAS and a member of Students for Deb Feinen, an registered student organization that backed her when she ran for state representative, said Champaign would benefit from having Feinen on the Council.

“I think that the City of Champaign could use some of her ideas and knowledge and political savvy of campus and how the city should be run,” Ruzic said. “Personally, I would be willing to see her in a higher role … [but] she has a lot of years left to seek a higher position.”

Councilman Tom Bruno urged potential applicants to apply right away and get involved with the public.

“I find the reaction from the community to be very helpful, and I’d like to encourage candidates to make their interest known early on so the citizens have time to react,” Bruno said.

Green apologized for the timing of his resignation and said he would miss his role on the Council.

“It amazing how much things have changed in the last six years,” Green said. “It’s been nothing but a positive experience.”