Welch seeks appointment as Acting Mayor of Lincoln

 

[June 11, 2020] 

Tuesday evening, aldermen Tracy Welch who is also the Mayor Pro Tem for the city of Lincoln presided over the Committee of the whole meeting of the council.

With the resignation of Seth Goodman this past week, the city is left without an official mayor. The role of Mayor Pro Tem is created to be only a temporary fix under these circumstances and a new “Acting Mayor” must be appointed.

At the end of the night, City Attorney John Hoblit reviewed state statutes regarding the replacement of a mayor.

Hoblit explained the state rules include a 28-month marker. If the mayoral position is vacated more than 28 months before the next municipal election then a special election must be held.

When the position is vacated less than 28 months prior to an election, then the responsibility falls on the city council to select a council member to take on the position of Acting Mayor.

In addition, he said that after the Acting Mayor is selected, that person has choices to make as well.

As Acting Mayor, the alderman may choose to maintain their aldermanic position or they may choose to resign that position, at which time a replacement alderman would have to be appointed.

Hoblit said that the only complication for an Acting Mayor that retains his or her aldermanic position would be what to do in the case of a tie vote among the council. He said if the appointed person in this circumstance chooses to maintain his or her aldermanic position, then the council will need to outline a process for breaking tie votes.

Welch commented on this topic saying, “obviously, I desire to be appointed.” In September 2019, Welch announced that he would seek the office of mayor for the city of Lincoln when then sitting Mayor Seth Goodman announced that he would not run for a second term. Goodman endorsed Welch as his successor, and once again this week endorsed Welch as Acting Mayor.

Welch said Tuesday evening that he was prepared to take on the responsibility of the position. He noted that he has been on the council for five years, he is up to speed with all the issues and topics of the council. He added that he has already stated his intentions of running for Mayor in 2021.

There was no other discussion on the topic. Alderman Ron Keller recommended that an item be placed on the Monday, June 15th voting agenda for a motion to appoint Tracy Welch as the Acting Mayor.

By nod of head the other aldermen agreed. Alderman Kevin Bateman also asked that the voting item be placed at the top of the agenda.

At the Tuesday night meeting Welch did not indicate whether or not he will resign as alderman. If he lets go of the alderman position, he will need to appoint a replacement to the Ward 1 aldermanic position within 60 days.

[Nila Smith]