Mayor, council begin terms
RED BAY — The city council has adopted procedural rules and made department and committee appointments for the next four years.
Mayor Mike Shewbart and council members Brad M. Bolton, Place 1, Jarod Massey, Place 2, Mike Kennedy, Place 3, Jason Vinson, Place 4, and Jonathon Strickland, Place 5, were sworn in on Nov. 3.
Shewbart succeeds Charlene Fancher, and Strickland succeeds Herbert Trulove.
The council will continue meeting on the first and third Wednesdays each month. Work sessions begin at 3 p.m. and meetings at 3:30 p.m. at 203 Fourth Ave. SE. The next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19.
Council members approved Ordinance 202511-03A, which outlines procedures for scheduling meetings, determining a quorum, introducing motions and recording votes.
They also approved Ordinance 2025-11-03B, covering agenda deadlines and public participation. Agenda items must reach the city clerk by noon the Wednesday before each meeting.
Speakers must submit a written request, identify themselves for the record, and limit remarks to five minutes unless the council allows more time. The mayor, who serves as presiding officer, may restore order and ask a police officer to remove anyone who disrupts the meeting.
The ordinance limits repeat comments on the same topic to once every four weeks and allows groups to choose a single spokesperson.
Council members named Brad M. Bolton mayor pro tem, which allows him to serve in place of the mayor should the mayor be unavailable. They appointed Hannah Baggett city clerk and treasurer, Janna Jackson as police chief and public safety director, Dean Hubbard as Parks and Recreation director, Bud Strickland as volunteer fire chief, Sydney Sheffield as court clerk and Amber Hardin as revenue officer. Mitch McKinney was appointed city attorney. Tim Marlar was appointed municipal prosecutor, and B.T. Gardner Jr. Was appointed municipal judge.
Council members designated Bank Independent, CB&S Bank, Valley State Bank and Community Spirit Bank as official depositories for city funds. Each account requires two signatures, usually the mayor and city clerk, with the mayor pro tem authorized in their absence.
They also named Shewbart superintendent of the Street and Sanitation departments and purchasing agent for those operations.
Committee appointments for the new term include Kennedy for the Education Committee, Strickland for the Cemetery Committee and Planning Commission, Vinson for the Water and Gas Board, Vinson and Massey for the Police and Safety Committee, and Bolton and Kennedy on the Street Department Committee.
