Swearing In of New City Officials

The City Council met in special session Tuesday morning, May 9th. Councilman Scottie Bass opened with prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Mayor Danny McKnight opened the floor for the several guests to introduce themselves. The minutes from the April meeting were approved, and there was no public input.

A recess was called to swear in the newly elected Mayor and Council. Before doing so, Cody Mitchell, who did not run for re-election so that he could focus his time on the school board, addressed the council. “It has been a pure joy to work with each of you over the last few years,” he said. “We have worked on several large projects, and the City is in better shape due to that hard work. I am proud to have been part of that progress, and I look forward to working with you from the school side now.”

During the ceremony, Judge Hinson, before swearing in the Mayor and his Council, made two observations worth noting; “Mayor McKnight is the first mayor since Guy Nicholson to serve consecutive terms, and Don Barber has served with every mayor since Guy Nicholson.” He later stated, “One of my favorite things as judge, is to swear in new seats. While every election is special, the City Council moreso to me, since I am heavily involved with City Government and have served on the council myself.”

Those sworn in were Mayor Danny McKnight, and Councilmen Don Barber, Scottie Bass, Kevin King, and Chris Trull.

After the recess, the City Council meeting proceeded with the newly elected officials taking their seats.

Before voting on the resolution to determine the Vice Mayor, Councilman Bass addressed the council regarding the matter. “Since Philip Griner, we have never elected a Vice Mayor that didn’t have the most votes. If Trull got the most votes, he should be the Vice Mayor. I’m just trying to go by what the charter says.” The council went back and forth regarding the matter with Chris Trull saying, “for me to do that job to the best of my ability, I need to serve under Don Barber. His knowledge and experience is something I can benefit from, and in my opinion, it is in the best interest of this community for Mr. Barber to continue as Vice Mayor.” Mayor McKnight agreed, “This man [Mr. Barber] has more knowledge about the inner-workings of this city than all of us sitting here.” Kevin King and Chris Trull motioned to elect Don Barber as Vice Mayor, Mr. Bass seconded the motion after the discussion, with Barber abstaining. “I’m grateful to serve this community for another term,” said Mayor McKnight, “and I look forward to doing that with this council.”