Lacking in drama but not consistency, City Council Vice President Clay Yarborough and member Greg Anderson were elected to leadership roles for the coming year.
Each had support in the past several months from other council members, leading to a suspense-free process that lacked surprise.
Yarborough, a two-term member, has been chairman of the Rules, Recreation and Community Development and Public Health and Safety committees during his time. He also has been floor leader twice.
He was nominated by council member Stephen Joost, a former council president, who talked about Yarborough’s history in Jacksonville, his “pounding the pavement” as a 26-year-old candidate and fiscal responsibility while in office. He is now 33.
Council member Lori Boyer served as the second to the nomination, saying Yarborough showed patience and fairness in his council role.
After the unanimous vote, Yarborough said he’s learned over the year how the council has worked as a team and “couldn’t do it without their support.”
Also lacking surprise was Anderson’s election as vice president.
He was supported unanimously, including by Reggie Brown, who at one time was in the running for the position. After the vote, Anderson specifically thanked Brown.
As reported in early March, Anderson had secured support from many council members in the past several months.
He was nominated by Richard Clark who noted Anderson’s penchant for listening and sticking to numbers that “don’t lie” and using them as fact. Anderson is the current Finance Committee chairman.
Johnny Gaffney seconded the nomination.
“I pledge to work with each of you as members of one body,” Anderson said.
Yarborough will serve as president in his final year on council.
Typically, council vice presidents move on to become president the following year. If re-elected, Anderson would be in line to lead council members after the 2015 elections with possibly several new members.
The council leadership cycle runs July 1-June 30.
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