Norris Council will pick mayor Monday night
The choice of who will be mayor for the next two years will be the main topic on the agenda of the Norris City Council’s December meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14.
It has become a controversial issue since the Nov. 3 General Election, when newcomers Will Grinder and Jill Holland Ryan received the most and second-most votes, respectively, in the council election.
Both will be sworn in to their first terms on the council at the start of Monday’s meeting, and the next order of business will be to choose a mayor and vice-mayor.
Grinder, who came in first place with 654 votes, and Ryan, who polled second with 646 votes, say they expect the five-member council to follow “tradition” and choose them for mayor and vice-mayor, respectively. (Ryan used her maiden name, Holland, on the election ballot.)
In the past, the top two vote-getters have usually been named mayor and vice-mayor
But the current mayor, Chris Mitchell, who came in third in the five-way council race, apparently has support to keep the post from two other winners in the election – incumbent councilmembers William “Bill” Grieve and Loretta Ann Painter.
Both said late last month that they plan to vote to keep Mitchell in the mayor’s post, which he has held the past 12 years.
Mitchell came in third in the election Nov. 3 with 625 votes, while Grieve was fourth with 604 and Painter was fifth with 561.
Their votes for Mitchell would put the decision in his hands, as it takes just three votes out of the five to decide who will be mayor,
If Mitchell decides to vote for himself, he would break a 2-2 deadlock – assuming Grinder and Ryan vote for Grinder -- giving himself another two-year term as mayor.
As late as Tuesday, Dec. 8, Mitchell would not say how he plans to vote.
“My focus continues to be on how to build a City Council Team,” Mitchell said in an email to The Courier News. “Over the past three weeks, I have talked to many citizens about the issues driving the election results. I have received strong encouragement to be willing to serve as Mayor and help the City Council work as a team.”
During the last City Council meeting, Nov. 9, the members discussed the mayor/vice-mayor selection process and heard comments from several citizens who urged the council to follow the established tradition and choose the top two vote-getters.
But Painter said during the meeting that she intended to break with tradition and choose the people she feels would be “most qualified” to hold the positions. She followed that up with similar comments to The Courier News later.
“I tried to be as clear as I could be,” Painter said later of her comments during the meeting. “I think [Chris] is the most-qualified person.”
With Grinder outpolling Mitchell by just 29 votes, and Ryan receiving just 21 votes more than the mayor, neither of the newcomers can claim a clear “mandate” to serve as mayor or vice-mayor, Grieve and Painter suggested.
But Grinder told the Courier News that he would expect tradition to be followed, and that he does want the mayor’s post.
Norris City Manager Scott Hackler said that Monday’s council meeting will be moved into the gymnasium at City Hall to accommodate more people under COVID-19 social-distancing guidelines.
As for the vice-mayor’s spot, Painter might be in line for that if the council does not support Ryan, but no one has said yet how they would vote on that issue.