South Bend’s Common Council has a new president. District 1 Councilman Tim Scott will lead the Council in the New Year. He replaces outgoing president Oliver Davis, who declined to seek a second term as president.
Oliver Davis served only one year as the Council president after six years as vice president. Both Scott and Davis are running for re-election in 2015. (You can read Tim Scott’s candidate announcement here and Oliver Davis’ announcement here.)
“Since being elected to the South Bend Common Council, I served as the Vice President (front passenger’s seat) for six years and the President (driver’s seat) for the past year. During my portion of our journey in the driver’s seat, the President, we as a South Bend Common Council have worked together to accomplish many positive actions for our City of South Bend,” Davis said in announcing that he would not seek a second term as president.
Council officers are subject to an annual vote. Both Tim Scott and Karen White were nominated on Monday to lead the Council as president. Scott received 7 of the 9 votes on the Council. White was nominated and received majority support as the Chair of the Committee of the Whole.
“I want thank the Council for voting me in. I am truly humbled by being chosen for this position while I am in my first term,” Scott told the South Bend Voice. “I am thrilled to have the experience of Karen White as Chair of the Committee of the Whole and Derek Dieter as Vice-President; I will draw on their experiences as they both served as Council President in the past.”
Scott says that he does not have immediate priorities “except for trying to improve communication among all council members, the administration and citizens of our city.”
Derek Dieter told us that he was “honored to have been elected to the vice president of the Council for the 2nd year in a row. Previously, I was the president for 5 consecutive years.”
Dieter says that he is “looking forward to new leadership partners with Tim Scott and Karen White” and that he “feels we will move the Council in a positive direction and leave last year’s embarrassing issues behind.”
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