Gretchen H. Ezernack, Director of Real Estate for NAI Faulk & Foster, will fill the District 2 Monroe City Council seat formerly held by Ben Katz, who died Jan. 13. 

State Rep. Kay Kellogg Katz, R-Monroe, Ben Katz's widow, recommended Ezernack for the interim position on the board until the Oct. 2 election.

The four remaining council members passed a resolution starting the process for the Oct. 2 election. If a runoff is needed, that election will be Nov. 2.

Kay Katz, Ezernack and her husband, Dr. David Ezernack, who is a dentist, attended the noon meeting where the other council members voted 4-0 to appoint Ezernack as interim council member.

Council Chairman Red Stevens said Ezernack had agreed that she would not run for the seat if she was appointed interim.

"I will continue the work that Ben did and make sure the district gets the representation it needs," Ezernack said. "Kay asked me if I would and I consider it an honor."

Kay Katz said she had recommended Ezernack as a member of the state's Real Estate Commission on which she now serves. "She's familiar with all the ethics forms so she can move right in and start working," Katz said.

"It's good to have a citizen to step up to the plate and accept a position that Ben served in," Stevens said when announcing the appointment.

District 1 member Jay Marx commented that he didn't think "a better person could be found to fill Ben's seat."

Ezernack obtained her real estate license in 1981 and started her employment with Faulk & Foster in 1982. She received a real estate brokers license in 1996. She is a specialist in commercial real estate sales, leasing, consulting, property and facilities management. Ezernack also was a member of the Monroe Comprehensive Planning Committee.

Ezernack is a member of the following professional groups: Northeast Louisiana Association of Realtors, Louisiana Realtors Association, National Association of Realtors and a sustaining member of the Junior Charity League of Monroe.

Ben Katz was first elected in March 2000 and was unopposed for his third term in March 2008. There are about two years left on his four-year term.

District 2 encompasses an area from mid-town around North 18th Street and south of Forsythe Avenue over to the University of Louisiana at Monroe and the Cypress Point area.

Qualifying for the position will be July 7-9.