Maitland City Talk

As the newly appointed mayor of Maitland, I would first like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. It is with great honor that I take over as mayor of our beautiful city. I have been a resident of Maitland for the past 26 years and have raised my family here. Giving back to my city is something that I really have enjoyed doing. As a number of citizens have already inquired, you may wonder why there was a mayoral change and how I became mayor without an election. I would be happy to share with you how that came about.

I ran unopposed for Maitland City Council Seat #1 in early 2010 and was seated on City Council in April of 2010. This being the first time that I had ever run for any political office, I worked hard to learn as much about my responsibilities as a City Council member as I could before I took office. Within a few months after becoming a member of City Council, our Mayor Doug Kinson decided to run for Orange County Commission. For him to do so, he first had to resign as mayor, effective 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 3 (whatever the outcome of the county election). Our City Charter requires that if the mayor was unable to complete his term in office, the vice mayor would serve out the remainder of his term as mayor. The annual appointment by City Council of the vice mayor was coming up in June, so the newly appointed vice mayor would become the mayor on Jan. 4.

Being the newest member of City Council, I did not feel qualified to be the mayor and felt that the other Council members were more experienced and deserving, as they had been City Council members a much longer time. I also felt that Mayor Kinson was doing an excellent job and was disappointed to have him leave. On the evening of the vice mayor’s appointment, I stated openly in the City Council meeting that I didn’t want to be considered for the vice mayor’s position, in fact, I nominated another member of City Council. After several nominations were unsuccessful, I was nominated by one of the Council members. The mayor asked me if I would reconsider being appointed to the vice mayor position. Since all the other City Council members had expressed an interest in becoming the next mayor, I assumed that no one would vote for me anyway so I agreed that if it would break the deadlock, I would accept the position as vice mayor. Well, to my surprise, I received the required number of votes and became the newly appointed vice mayor. I must admit that, after my appointment, I was apprehensive about being able to get ready to become our city’s mayor on Jan. 4.

What I was unaware of was the dedication of our city staff, and especially Mayor Kinson, to make sure that I would be ready to take over as mayor. Furthermore, I had no idea of the amount of work and commitment of time that goes into being mayor. As a member of City Council, I assumed that it was a similar allotment of time but found out quickly that serving as mayor requires a much greater time commitment. As mayor, you are also a member and/or chairman of many other important outside boards and organizations. Then there are all the welcoming speeches, social events, news articles and legislative lobbying responsibilities. The more I learned about becoming the mayor, the more respect I had for Mayor Kinson. I realized the exemplary job that he had done for our city that most people don’t see or hear about because so much of it is not regularly attended by the public.

I immediately began attending board meetings and social events with the mayor, as well as meeting and taking tours with the city staff to become informed as much as possible about all the aspects of our city. The more that I learned and experienced, the more confident I became of my ability to assume the duties as mayor. I want to give many thanks to the city staff, and especially Mayor Kinson, for taking the time to prepare me for this great opportunity to serve as Maitland’s mayor.