City welcomes new mayor, councilmember
Susanville welcomes its new mayor, Kevin Stafford, and its newly elected city councilmembers, Brian Moore and Mendy Schuster with Joseph Franco appointed mayor pro tem for a second term.
With Gwenna MacDonald, Susanville’s city clerk, giving the certification of the June 5 vote, the city saw a shake-up of its council members and its hierarchy.
At a special meeting of the Susanville city council, before its official regular meeting June 20, community members came together to congratulate their newly elected councilmembers; welcoming them and taking plenty of selfies.
The meeting was packed with what seemed like half of the city’s police force, who were there to support their endorsed candidates, Schuster and Moore for the half hour meeting.
The council presented the outgoing mayor, Kathie Garnier with an award honoring her service to the city of Susanville as a councilmember from 2014 to 2018. Franco officially presented the plaque to Garnier and took a one-on-one moment with her, saying, “It’s much deserved. You did a great job, and we’re very proud to be sitting next to you.”
The meeting broke into applause giving congratulations to Garnier, who waved, smiled and said her thanks as she made her way out of the council chambers.
The meeting continued as MacDonald swore in the two elected members, with the crowd filled with excited supporters, watching their representatives taking their place on the dais.
The meeting quickly moved to the reorganization of the city council leadership.
Two nominations were made for mayor. Moore nominated Franco and Schuster nominated Stafford. In an affirmative vote of 3-2, Stafford was named mayor.
Schuster nominated Franco for mayor pro tem and in a unanimous vote of 5-0, Franco was voted in for a second term.
The appointments of each of the council members to their prospective committees and commissions were postponed until the July meeting, with the former mayor’s alternate available to proceed with each of her upcoming committee meetings.
