Roanoke Rapids Councilwoman Sandra Bryant was selected as mayor pro tempore Tuesday night after former Councilman Wayne Smith opted to step down last month for health reasons.
Councilman W. Keith Bell made the motion to select Bryant as what is essentially the vice mayor on a second by Rex Stainback.
She will serve in the position for the remainder of Smith’s term which ends in December 2025.
After Mayor Emery Doughtie congratulated her, Bryant said, “I would like to thank my fellow council members for their confidence in electing me to this position. I promise to serve fairly and to give it my best.”
Since Smith’s decision to step down, the panel has not moved on selecting a replacement.
City Attorney Geoffrey Davis said it will be up to the council to decide on naming a new council member. “I think that the council members need to talk amongst themselves and decide on how they want to do this.”
Davis said when a vacancy occurs in the midst of a term, the city charter controls this. “The way the city charter works is that the council can appoint somebody to fill the remainder of that term. They don’t have to. They can leave it vacant. Usually when you have a small council like we do, a lot of times it’s in the interest of the council to get a fifth member on there, if nothing else to try to avoid a tie.”
Davis said there’s no real regulations on how they go about filling a seat with exception of not being allowed to discuss the qualifications of anybody or taking votes on anybody in closed session. “So any discussions they’re going to have about potential candidates to fill this position must be done in an open session.”
There are several ways the council can go about filling a vacant seat, the attorney said. “There can be a nomination, they can accept applications. Could they in the midst of a meeting, could somebody say I want to appoint John Doe? If the motion carries, they vote, and the majority votes on it, then it goes forward.”
Doughtie said the appointment may be done through applications such as when a replacement for Tommy Daughtry was named last October.
The mayor said the matter may be discussed next month.
In other matters Tuesday the council:
Deferred a decision on a zoning map amendment until its August 20 meeting. Michael Carroll of Rentco Properties is seeking to rezone residential developed property along Church and Carter streets from R-6 residential to B-3 commercial district. He has not immediately listed an intended use.
Approved a special use permit request to allow duplexes within the R-8 residential zoning district located on Timmy Lane which is in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Agreed to change the August 6 meeting start time to 4 p.m. in light of the police department hosting this year’s National Night Out at Kirkwood Adams Community Center.
