by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
A City Council amendment requiring a super majority of 13 to prevent a Council vice president from assuming the presidency has been withdrawn.
Introduced by Council member Art Shad last month, the bill was unanimously recommended for approval by the Rules Committee, but languished in full Council meetings where it never reached a consensus.
A handful of noticed meetings scheduled by Shad to discuss it were canceled earlier this week.
“Honestly, it just isn’t the right time,” said Shad. “A lot of thought went into my decision, but I ultimately felt there wasn’t enough support for it right now.”
Co-sponsored by Sharon Copeland and Daniel Davis, Shad hoped the proposed ordinance would “establish continuity” between Council officer installations.
“Establishing a president-designate would allow the vice president to better prepare for a move up, instead of worrying about campaigning all year long,” Shad said last month.
While expecting the support of at least 10 Council members, mostly those serving their first term, Shad said he wouldn’t have been able to secure the needed 13 votes required before a rule change can pass.
“In talking with my fellow Council members, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get that,” he said. “Knowing that, I knew it wasn’t going to pass.”
Council member Suzanne Jenkins, an original co-sponsor of the bill, later removed her name and was among the more vocal on the Council who said it shouldn’t pass.
“I’m confident the current election process will suffice for now. People have tried to change it before and we always come back to what we have now,” she said.
While serving as vice president, Jenkins lost her presidential bid in 2002 to Jerry Holland.
“I know I should be the poster child for this, but the more I thought about it, I understood this bill placed too much power in than hands of seven people. That’s all it would take to elect a president and I don’t think that can work.”
Faye Rustin, Pat Lockett-Felder and Council president Lad Daniels, each in their second Council term, agreed.
“I do applaud his effort, though,” said Jenkins.
Shad, acknowledging the bill’s defeat, said a greater good may have been accomplish.
“It won’t happen now, but I’m pleased with the discussion this bill generated,” he said. “As I’ve said before, I’ve been very surprised by all of the posturing for leadership I’ve seen since I started on the Council eight months ago. I think too much time and energy is wasted on that, and I think others may realize that now, too. So in that case, I think we’ve been successful.”