Proposed Resolution Allows Voters To Directly Elect Cookeville Mayor

A Cookeville City Councilman has proposed a resolution that allows the people to directly elect the mayor.

Councilman Mark Miller said his resolution would require city council approval and avoid a public referendum.

“This is providing a mechanism for the citizens to elect their mayor. The problem with some referendums is that there’s only one side of the story that gets to propose a referendum,” Miller said. “So this is going to allow the council to work as a team and provide a charter change that works well for both sides of the story. This will allow the city to directly elect their mayor, but also put protections on term limits.”

Currently, the city council selects Cookeville’s mayor and vice mayor. The positions typically go to the candidates receiving the most votes in the city council election. Miller’s resolution places the election of mayor on a separate ballot provision. It also allows an individual to run for mayor, city council, or both offices at once.

“The reason why I want to do this is to make sure we’re not losing good candidates for the mayor or council position,” Miller said.

The proposed resolution states that if the mayor is also one of the top vote getters in the election for city council, that individual would be eliminated from the city council and the next highest candidate receiving votes would be elected to the council.

Under Miller’s proposal, existing term limits would apply to both the position of mayor and city council member. Current term limits prevent councilmen from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms on the council.

Any charter change approved by the council would also need approval of state lawmakers. Voters could also petition lawmakers to approve a public referendum to change how Cookeville elects its mayor.

Mayor Ricky Shelton said Tuesday that he disagreed with Miller’s proposal. He said citizens should have a say in any changes to the city election process.

“The document that I saw is very confusing,” Shelton said. “Really, the process should be having some good debate and discussion about it publicly. You know, a public hearing or town hall to gather information from people.”

“Ultimately, I believe whatever plan comes forward, it should be voted on by all the citizens,” Shelton said. “It should be a referendum on the ballot and the citizens would go in and decide. It shouldn’t be decided by four people.”

Miller said he began drafting the resolution following a recent city council work session. He said Mayor Ricky Shelton proposed during that meeting exploring ways to allow citizens to directly elect the mayor.

Miller said he may ask for his resolution to appear on the agenda for Thursday’s city council meeting.