Come January, Auburn City Councilmember John Holman is the City’s new deputy mayor.
By a 4-3 vote Monday night, the council chose the first-term councilman over current Deputy Mayor Rich Wagner, who has served in that capacity since January 2013.
And just what does a deputy mayor do?
For starters, fills in for the mayor when the mayor is out of town.
“I remember when we had the big ice storm in January of 2012, and our former mayor, Pete Lewis, was out of town and couldn’t get back. So Nancy (Backus) was in his office, starting about 5 a.m., and she was up to her ears in running and directing the emergency response to the ice storm,” Holman recalled.
As Holman sees things, however, his most important duty in the next year is to set up the rules, procedures and practices for the work study sessions that are soon to replace the long-established subcommittee meetings. It was this responsibility, he said, that made him put his name into contention.
“As a chair, the object is not to speak, the object is to get the quiet people to talk, to give input, and respectfully, perhaps with humor, limit the talk of the people who are a little verbose,” Holman said. “It’s not defined that way, but that’s what leadership is about. It’s getting the information out of people.
“… Otherwise,” he added, “I would have been happy to continue as one of the seven minions,” Holman said of his regular role on the council.
Holman was elected to office in November 2011. He has been a member of the City’s Finance Committee and of the Planning and Community Development Committee, which he now chairs.
It is up to a vote of the council whether the deputy mayor serves a one- or a two-year term.
“I’m thinking that one year is going to be plenty enough,” Holman said. “Power needs to be shared.”
