Title
Appointment to fill Mayoral Seat Vacancy
Action
Action:
Vote to appoint a qualified candidate as mayor, effective upon the vacancy of the mayoral seat, to serve until the expiration of the elected mayor’s term.
Body
Staff Resource(s):
Stephanie Kelly, City Clerk
Andrea Leslie-Fite, City Attorney
Lina James, City Attorney’s Office
Explanation
§ Mayor Viola Alexander Lyles submitted her notice of resignation effective June 30, 2026.
May 26, 2026: Adoption of process and timeline
§ City Council adopted a process and timeline to fill the mayoral vacancy and appoint a mayor, effective upon the mayor’s vacancy:
- June 2 - City Clerk opened application process for internal and external candidates
- June 9 - City Clerk closed application process
- June 11 - City Clerk submitted qualified candidate applications to Council
- June 15 - Council to hold an in-person Candidates Forum for qualified applicants at a special meeting
§ City Council amended the proposed application to include:
- Notice of in-person attendance at the candidates’ forum for qualified applicants, and
- Addition of a question on the applicant’s intent to seek office in the 2027 municipal elections.
June 15, 2026: Candidate Forum and process/timeline amendment
§ City Council held a special meeting to conduct the Mayoral Candidates Forum, where each qualified candidate was allotted two minutes to speak.
§ Council amended the process and timeline adopted on May 26 to:
- Adopt a nomination and ballot method where each councilmember nominated up to three eligible nominees; and
- Adopted a process where qualified candidates ranked in the top five among all nominations are invited to participate in Council interviews at a special meeting to be held on June 18.
§ June 16 - City Clerk submitted ballots of all eligible nominees to Council by noon, to be returned by Council to the City Clerk by end of day on June 16.
June 18, 2026: Council Interviews of Nominees
§ Council held a special meeting to conduct interviews of the top five candidates for the Mayor position nominated from the June 16 ballot, and to discuss and take any other action necessary to facilitate the mayoral appointment process.