Manchester Vice Mayor Marilyn Howard has been appointed as Mayor of Manchester.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen held a special called meeting Monday night at City Hall to address the vacancy left by the passing of Mayor Lonnie Norman.
Ryan French made the motion to name Howard as Mayor. The board voted unanimously in favor of Howard, with no discussion. Howard was immediately sworn in by Manchester city attorney Gerald Ewell.
Per the city charter, Howard will serve as mayor until the next regular city election, which will be August of 2022. At that point, there will be an election for Manchester Mayor to fill the remainder of Norman’s term, which is up in 2024.
That means whoever wins in 2022 will serve only two years before facing re-election.
Mayor Howard made brief comments following the vote, saying that she could never fill the shoes left by the passing of Norman.
Howard, who was elected as an alderman in 2018, was serving as vice-mayor after being appointed to that position by the board in September. She began taking on mayoral duties on Oct. 1, when Mayor Norman was first hospitalized with COVID-19.
Next on the agenda for the board will be filling Howard’s vacant alderman seat, and appointing a new vice mayor.
(Photo: Manchester Mayor Marilyn Howard, right, is sworn in by city attorney Gerald Ewell at a special called meeting Monday night, Oct. 19, 2020. Thunder Radio photo by Josh Peterson)
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