Hours after four new City Council members are sworn in Monday, they will turn to the issue of picking a new council president.
That decision has been subject to some intense politicking, as my colleague David Washburn has reported.
There had been some debate about whether the current council should pick a new president or temporary “presiding officer.” That idea met with criticism from Councilmen Kevin Faulconer and Brian Maienschein and Councilwoman Donna Frye, who issued a memo opposing the plan.
The Monday afternoon vote means a new president will be in place to preside over Tuesday’s regular meeting.
In a related issue, Frye and Councilman-elect Carl DeMaio have proposed curtailing the council president’s power to decide what goes on the council president’s docket, saying individual council members should have more say in what goes on the agenda. Frye has cited two examples.
Councilman Tony Young has said the move would shift too much power to the mayor. Faulconer has said he didn’t have a problem with Peters keeping his items off the docket.