The new Town Council will be sworn in and elect a Council President and VP on Monday. There have been a number of questions & comments about how this works, so here are the facts.
The President of the Council is elected by the majority of the seven Councilors. He/she is the President of the Council, not of the town, and carries only minimal additional authority, and his/her vote is equal to the other six Councilors. There are no legal requirements as to whom the Councilors elect. While they can consider any criteria they choose, there is nothing in the Charter giving special consideration to the number of votes any candidate received.
Historically, in both Tiverton and most communities, the party/group winning the majority of seats elects one of its own to be President, regardless of the order of finish. While the highest vote-getter among the prevailing group often is given preference, even that has not always been the practice.
The bottom line is that the new Councilors can elect whomever they choose, but in every previous election, the President has been a member of the party/group that won the majority of seats.
Given that Tiverton 1st / TDTC candidates won five of seven seats, it would be surprising and disappointing to many of us if the President was not a member of that majority. But that decision rests with the newly-elected Councilors.
Brian Medeiros
Tiverton 1st Co-Coordinator
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