from staff
Last week, City Council member Gwen Yates was mayor of Jacksonville for the better of a couple of days. Yates is a two-term member of Council who has chaired several committees over the years, but she’s never been Council president or vice president. Currently, Yates is the vice chair of the Council’s Rules Committee.
So, how did it happen?
First, several people have to be out of town or unavailable to get that deep into the City’s pecking order.
Mayor John Peyton, City Council President Michael Corrigan and City Council Vice President Daniel Davis were all scheduled to be in Tallahassee for Jacksonville Day. That leaves the Council’s Finance Committee Chair, in this case Kevin Hyde, in charge of the city. However, Hyde — who’s an attorney with Foley & Lardner — was out of town working on a case in Nashville. Next in line to serve as “acting mayor” is the Council’s Rules chair, which is Lad Daniels. But, Daniels was in Tallahassee, also.
Peyton and Davis made it to Jacksonville Day, but Corrigan didn’t, due to the passing of his grandmother earlier in the week. By City Council rules, he’s obligated to delegate the job to the Rules vice chair, which is Yates.
So, for a couple of days Yates “occupied” the office and even conducted a little business when she signed a mayoral proclamation which proclaimed Thursday “Individual Meditation Day.” The proclamation even has Yates’ signature right above the title of “mayor.”
All of this begs one more question: who would have been next if Yates couldn’t have served?
The answer, according to Council Director Cheryl Brown, is: she’s not sure. The City’s never had to go that far down the “depth chart.”