By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
One of the first duties of a freshly elected city council is to appoint a pro tempore for the position of mayor.
Decatur’s new council disposed of that duty at the January 2 meeting, naming veteran councilman Matt Dyer to serve in any absence of Mayor Dan Rickord during 2024.
Dyer, an at-large member beginning his fifth term on council, has served as mayor pro tem in the past, including leading at least one council meeting last year.
Pro tempore, by the way, is a Latin term meaning “for the time being,” signaling that the position was originally conceived as a temporary replacement.
Meanwhile, the mayor has appointed city park board member Kim McCord to a new term and Josh Zimmerman, the city’s infrastructure manager, to another term on the Adams County Regional Sewer District board.
Also, Phil Summers was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
Council has given new plan commission terms to Zimmerman, Jack Macklin, and Barb Engle, and reappointed Pete Braun to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC).
Also at that council meeting:
* Police Chief Kevin Gerber said he has seven applicants for a vacancy on the department’s force.
* Dyer said “it was a little bit alarming to me” to see recent high school enrollment numbers which showed a continuing drop at Bellmont High School. Dyer said the numbers brought some “good discussion” about the enrollment on social media and that he was going to meet with North Adams Superintendent Kim Hiatt.
* The same night, the board of works and safety signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter concerning its project to place banners on city light poles to honor military veterans.
A minor change was made at the request of the DAR chapter.
* Council’s regularly scheduled meeting for January 16 has been postponed until Tuesday, January 23. Newly-elected city officials will be attending a state-sponsored training session next week.