At Monday’s Stuart City Council meeting, Mayor Dick Cook’s two appointments to the Stuart Utility Board of Trustees were rejected by a 3-2 vote. The two factions each cited different portions of the Stuart City Code on how appointments should be approved, leading to a heated discussion.

The current city code gives the mayor the power to appoint officials to various commissions and boards as specified in Chapter 15. However, the utility board’s portion of the code in Chapter 24 states that, while the mayor has the power to appoint a resident, those appointments are subject to council approval.

New Council Member Theresa Wright-Glass believes the mayor should have sole authority over appointments for the listed committees and boards. “I still think it’s a slap in the face to our mayor and our city government to hold out on his appointments so that certain people on the City Council can try to control the playing field, so that they can get the people that they want in powerful positions, and not allow the mayor to use his own best judgment when he offers qualified, experienced people to a position.”

Fellow Council member Bryan Belden is concerned that the appointments Cook offered failed to consider all interested candidates. “We have something also in our code that says that we’re supposed to be looking at folks to have a diverse board. That is a fact.”

There were no other nominations proposed during the meeting and the positions will be filled at a future meeting.

Stuart City Code: https://dehayf5mhw1h7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/1074/2019/01/23121459/2016-Full-Code.pdf