Immediately concern was expressed at the Paris City Council meeting Monday evening regarding the Mayor’s handling of his own nomination.
Jay Hodge was the first of two to speak during the Citizen’s Forum, both expressing their disappointment with how the nomination of Mayor was handled at the previous Council Meeting.
At the conclusion of his comments, Mr. Hodge asked those who felt the same to stand. Most did.
To recap, every time a new Council is sworn in, the first order of business is to choose a Mayor from among the Council Members.
Most recently, the process went as follows: Mayor Steve Clifford opened the floor for nominations, both District 3 Billy Trenado and District 6 Clayton Pilgrim raised their hands. Dr. Clifford called on Mr. Trenado who enthusiastically nominated Dr. Clifford for a second term as Mayor.
Mayor Clifford seconded his own nomination and immediately called for a vote before being re-elected Mayor by a 4-3 vote.
Clayton Pilgrim’s nomination, widely assumed to be for District 7 Paula Portugal, was never heard.
In response, Mr. Pilgrim placed the following item on the agenda for Monday Night’s Meeting stating, “15. Discuss and act on a procedure for appointing individuals to serve as council officers, and to serve on city council-appointed boards, committees, and commissions, and clarifying the selection process of boards and commissions for the 2018 year.”
While many questioned the legality of the recent vote, there is, in fact, no actual procedure in place for selecting the Mayor (or Mayor Pro Tem).
During the discussion, each member of the City Council seemed to agree that an official procedure should be adopted, though there were differing opinions on what that procedure should be.
Billy Trenado, who made the nomination for Dr. Clifford, said he felt this was all “sour grapes,” but did agree that a procedure should be in place.
At the end of the discussion, a temporary change to the process was made, ensuring that all nominations are heard, and randomly voted on, for the next meetings board appointments.
The official procedure will be discussed, and possibly adopted, at a future meeting.
Though Mayor Clifford did pass on his support for an official procedure, he was notably absent from this meeting.