Mitchell, Nicholson retain Norris leadership roles
Norris Mayor Chris Mitchell adresses the City Council and residents in attendance at Monday’s meeting. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Councilwoman Loretta Painter made the motion to appoint Mitchell, and Nicholson seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Nicholson nominated himself to be vice mayor, and Painter seconded his motion, which also passed 5-0.
Although he voted to approve Mitchell as mayor, Councilman Will Grinder did make a brief statement suggesting that he should have been considered, since he was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 5 city election, as he was in his first two terms on the council.
But unlike the mayor-selection process two years ago, Grinder said he would support Mitchell’s appointment. Grinder also failed to get the council’s support in 2020, when he sought the mayor appointment in his first term.
Painter asked Grinder if he wanted to nominate himself so he could officially be considered for the mayor’s post, but he declined.
Although there is nothing in city code that requires the council
to choose as mayor the person who received the most votes in the election, Grinder noted that it had been a longstanding tradition in Norris – although not always followed.
All five City Council members elected in 2022 were re-elected Nov. 5, and they were all sworn in again at the start of Monday’s meeting.
Final vote counts were: Grinder, 570 votes, 16.76%; Bill Grieve, 547, 16.09%; Mitchell, 545, 16.03%; Painter, 512, 15.06%; and Nicholson, 505, 14.85%. Losing candidates were Ron Hill, with 441 votes (12.97%) and James “Lee” Ragsdale, 280 votes (8.24%).
The entire council is up for re-election every two years, and there is no separate vote for the mayor’s position by the public. Mitchell is beginning his ninth term on the council, and has been mayor for all eight previous terms, or 16 years.
Mitchell told the council and citizens in attendance that he wanted to continue as mayor to help complete several initiatives the council has pushed over the past two years.
The only objection to the council’s procedure to reappoint Mitchell to the mayor’s post came from George Miceli, owner and editor of the Norris Bulletin.
While Miceli did not openly oppose the choice of Mitchell, he said he would like to see all council members be given the opportunity to seek the position and state their own cases for wanting to be mayor.
No one did so, except for Mitchell.
In other business Monday night, the council:
• Passed 5-0 on first reading a proposed ordinance that would amend the city’s current restrictions on door-to-door salespeople, primarily by allowing residents to add their addresses to a “no solicitors” list that would be maintained at city hall and provided to any salespeople seeking permits to sell products, but not services, door-to-door.
Such a move, which was suggested during the November council meeting, would make it illegal for a commercial solicitor to approach the home of anyone whose address is on that list, similar to the way the federal “Do Not Call” list is supposed to work.
This issue arose primarily in response to a pest-control company’s recent door-to-door solicitations in Norris, which brought some complaints to the city offices by residents.
Mitchell said at the time that there was “a bug man” making “aggressive” solicitations at residents’ homes, but that because the man’s company had obtained a city soliciting permit, did not violate the existing ordinance.
Assistant City Manager Bailey Whited suggested the idea of the no-solicitations list.
In January, the council approved a peddlers/solicitors ordinance to help control door-to-door sales.
The amended ordinance still needs to be approved on second and final reading, which is expected to occur during the council’s Jan. 13 meeting. A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. that day, just prior to the 6 p.m. council meeting.
“I think we will have almost no peddlers [with approval of the ordinance],” Mitchell said Monday night.
• Appointed Painter to serve as the council’s representative on the city’s Community Development Board. Grinder, who had been the council’s representative for the past six years, said he did not want to continue in that role.
• Passed on a 4-0 vote a resolution opposing a school voucher system that would be instituted by the state General Assembly in the so-called Education Freedom Act of 2025, which is expected to be considered when the assembly meets in January.
The act would divert some state public-education funds to help parents pay for private-school tuition for their children if they chose to take them out of public schools.
Councilman Grinder objected to the council considering the resolution, saying it was a political issue and did not affect the city of Norris. He declined to vote on the resolution.
“I don’t think we should be voting on this,” Grinder said.
But Councilman Nicholson said he requested the resolution, and said, “It does affect the city. It jeopardizes the future of public schools here and across the state.”
Mayor Mitchell added, “I support it.”
• Heard from Fire Chief Rick Roach that this year’s “Fire Santa” Christmas toy giveaway held throughout the city last Saturday delivered new toys to nearly 200 children, up 35 from last year.
The Fire Department begins raising money and accepting donated toys each year in November for the annual Fire Santa program.
On Saturday, Santa rode through the streets of Norris accompanied by fire trucks and a trailer loaded with new toys, stopping wherever children were waiting to choose toys piled up on an open trailer.
