Goodman Council Sets Meeting To Appoint New Mayor

The Goodman City Council will hold an open meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13 to appoint a new mayor.

Greg Richmond resigned as mayor on Monday, Jan. 6. City council members on Tuesday night during the regular city council meeting discussed appointing an interim mayor. Alderman Calvin Wilson is serving as mayor pro tem. He and former mayoral candidate JR Fisher were mentioned as possible candidates. A vote was taken at one point during the meeting. Those who attended the standing room-only meeting voted which person they wanted to elect.

After a near tie-vote was taken, some mentioned that other Goodman residents may not know about the opportunity and possibly would like to serve as mayor.

Judge Clyde Davidson said he felt that several people did not know the mayor had resigned. "You're not the CEO," he told the council. "You need to get the input from the community. You should have input of who you represent."

After much discussion and input from those attending, the city council agreed to hold a meeting next week to allow anyone interested to learn more about the post. If Wilson is appointed mayor, his position as alderman will open. That position will need to be filled as well.

The council agreed that anyone interested in serving as north alderman or mayor should contact city clerk Karla McNorton at city hall for consideration. The meeting will be held Jan. 13 at city hall, Wilson said.

The person appointed to the mayoral position will serve until April. At that time, a special election will be held to fill the remaining year of Richmond's term. A regular election will be held in April 2021 for the regular two-year mayoral term.

In other business, the council discussed utilizing a time clock or a similar method to better track employee hours. Alderwoman Beth Hallmark has said that the city incurred $16,000 last year in paying for overtime and personal time off. The council said it will continue to explore the option while gathering input from employees.

Council members also discussed other cost-saving ideas, agreeing to change the end of the pay period to Thursday, instead of Tuesday. City employees who attend the city council meetings on Tuesday nights do not have the opportunity to work off that extra time, if they've already worked 40 hours. Hallmark said the change, with the pay period starting on Friday and ending on Thursday, would allow employees to reduce more overtime accrued.

The city council also discussed possibly moving the Goodman City Court to Pineville as a cost-savings measure. Council members said they believe they could save approximately $6,000 by doing so. They agreed to continue to evaluate that change and gather more information about what that change would entail.

General News on 01/09/2020