Curt Strickland Tuesday was named the new city council member to represent District 1.

Strickland’s appointment to the council seat held by Tommy Daughtry who stepped down because he was moving out of the district, came on a 3-2 vote, with Mayor Emery Doughtie breaking the tie.

Before the nomination of Strickland passed on a motion by Wayne Smith and a second by Rex Stainback, Carl Ferebee had nominated retired Halifax County Manager Tony Brown on a second by Sandra Bryant. Stainback and Smith voted against Brown’s nomination and Doughtie sided with Stainback and Smith in the tie-breaker.

Sherry Mills and Jacob Dean, who is running against Stainback and challenger Robbie Clements, also applied for the seat.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve,” Strickland said following the meeting.

Strickland said his first steps as a new council member will be “to listen and learn and promote growth and prosperity in the city.”

Strickland, the general manager of Builders FirstSource in Roanoke Rapids, told the council during the time allotted for the candidates to make their presentations, “I’m a lifelong resident of Roanoke Rapids. I’ve been here 61 years — a businessman here in town for 44 years. I think what I can bring to the council is my business experience. I deal with anything on a daily basis from human resources to payroll to operations to marketing and sales. We’re a small outfit — we do a little bit of all of it and I feel like that experience can help and I can be an asset to the council — promote growth and economic development within Roanoke Rapids.”

Strickland said his grandfather served on the council over 50 years ago. “That excites me to have a chance to give back to the community for what’s been given to me.”

While their candidate did not get the nomination, both Ferebee and Bryant said after Strickland’s appointment they were pleased with the process.

Before making the nomination for Brown, Ferebee said, “I’m just happy we went through this process and the way we went through this process. We have filled other vacancies in the past and in many cases some of us didn’t know the actual candidate. Hopefully we will continue the process we have now in how we fill vacancies. We get a chance to hear from a candidate and at least get to know all the candidates.”

Bryant said, “I’m really happy that we do have people that are interested in serving. I think this process was definitely worthwhile. It’s at least good to put a name with a face even if you don’t know them personally. I agree that we should probably consider following this process if we have openings in the future.”

Asked afterward about his tie-breaking votes, the mayor said, “I wouldn’t say anything against Tony. He’s a fine man and has done a lot for Halifax County.”

Doughtie said the council talked about the qualifications for being on the council. “You couldn’t put Tony Brown up against Curt Strickland in terms of (government) qualifications. Some of the things Mr. Brown was talking about seemed more like the job the city manager has. What we need are people that sit on the board that listen, take things under advisement and are active and engaged in their community, have been there for a long time and been in business.”

Of Strickland, Doughtie said, “He’s been on the same job for 44 years — risen from entry level to manager. I feel that would make Mr. Strickland a very good council member.”

In his application for the council seat, Strickland said under the question of why he would be an asset to the panel, “As a lifelong resident of Roanoke Rapids, my commitment and dedication to the community are unwavering. My knowledge and deep understanding of our local history will be an invaluable support toward informed decision-making.”

In that question Strickland also answered, “My 44 years of experience as a businessman in the community has accorded me many interpersonal and financial skills that will benefit the Roanoke Rapids City Council.”

Wrote Strickland: “I am a critical listener and thinker, problem solver and negotiator. When making informed decisions I remain open minded and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the situation at hand with the foresight of future implications for all parties.”