GRAND TERRACE - A fifth member could join the City Council this evening, preventing what many say would otherwise be a 2-2 deadlock for the next two years.

But first, current members will interview the 14 applicants for the position and agree on a future colleague.

The field includes familiar faces from the 2010 election - council candidates Sylvia Robles and Tom Schwab and mayoral candidate Doug Wilson - as well former Councilman Herman Hilkey.

Most of the remaining applicants are relative newcomers to the city's political scene, including many who have not spoken at a City Council meeting in at least the last year, according to the minutes of those meetings.

"There are some very good candidates, and I can honestly say there's a bunch of them I don't even know, so I can tell you they're not a part of a voting bloc of mine," Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said.

Two earlier council meetings dedicated to deciding whether to appoint a candidate or hold an election split largely between residents advocating for Robles - who narrowly lost a two-person race to Councilwoman Darcy McNaboe - and those who saw her as too closely aligned with Stanckiewitz and Councilman Bernardo Sandoval.

While all three deny any such allegiance, many residents said appointing Robles would reinforce perceptions of two hostile camps on the council.

The council will interview each of the candidates in public, then nominate individuals until a majority can agree on someone.

A staff report recommends limiting each interview to 15 minutes.

The interviews are the final item at the meeting, which begins at 6 p.m.

"Bring a blanket, your jammies and a pillow," Stanckiewitz said.