By Caylie Moore, Features Editor
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the Gadsden City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting to nominate and appoint Jessica Wilson to her late husband Jason Wilson’s District 5 seat for the remainder of his unexpired term, which ends in early November.
After Jason Wilson passed away on Aug. 19, the council adopted a resolution to declare his seat vacant the following week and begin the process of finding a new representative for District 5. As such, during the council’s work session, President Kent Back introduced an ordinance to temporarily appoint Jessica Wilson to the District 5 seat until the new administration takes office on Nov. 2.
Councilman Larry Avery Jr., at his and his colleagues’ recommendation, asked to suspend the rules and put the ordinance up for immediate consideration in the regular meeting in an effort to expedite the reappointment process. If the ordinance were to go to a second reading, the district would face another week without having representation on the city council.
“Jason Wilson leaves behind a tremendous legacy of public service, a city that has been loved deeply and a void that will be difficult to fill,” Avery began, adding that his passion for the city of Gadsden will not be forgotten — but instead put at the forefront of their nomination for the seat.
“As we consider the important responsibility of filling the vacancy created by this passing, I believe we should consider someone who understood not only the work that Jason was committed to but also the heart and vision behind his work.”
As such, Avery announced that the council had chosen Jessica Wilson to take on the role, and the city, which had also previously stated that Jessica Wilson would fill Jason Wilson’s seat had he won his re-election posthumously, welcomed her proudly.
Jessica Wilson then took her oath of office at the meeting and was promptly inducted into the council, receiving hugs and well-wishes from her new colleagues as she stepped up to the council seats.
Placing one of Jason Wilson’s old hats on the table in front of District 5’s seat, she took her chair and began her first meeting as the new representative of the district.
During the meeting, the council also discussed the $74.8 million budget for the fiscal year of 2027 in its first reading and certified election results from Aug. 25’s election to determine who would be placed in District 1’s runoff.
The $74.8 million budget will include a $12.7 million budget for Special Revenue Funds, $12.3 million for Debt Service Funds and $18.9 million for Enterprise and Internal Service Funds. The proposed budget will also leave $10.8 million for the Capital Projects Fund and $10.3 million for the Capital Projects II Fund. President Back announced that copies of the proposed budget could be picked up from the finance and city clerk offices and opened the floor for residents to speak in favor or opposition of the budget. When no one stepped forward, the council declared that it would vote on the budget next week and moved on to the next order of business.
City Clerk Jennifer Smith then reported that the Etowah County Board of Registrars had finally determined which provisional ballots were eligible to be counted and began certifying the election by opening and processing the remaining votes.
Reading the individual votes on each ballot aloud to the room, Smith counted only two additional votes for District 1 candidate Brandon “Bowtie” Hall’s bid for council member, bringing his total to 256 to LaMont Kyle’s 259 and Tonya Lynn Latham’s 271. As such, newcomer Kyle and incumbent Latham will head to a runoff election on Sept. 22.
With that being the only undetermined race, every other office was certified as follows: Craig Ford, Mayor; Larry Avery Jr., District 3; Linda Riggins Aaron, District 5; Renay Stokes Reeves, District 6; Chris Robinson, District 7; Adrienne Reed, School Board District 1; and Mikey Haney, School Board District 4.
After the certification, President Back congratulated the winners and praised the courage of every candidate, adding that it was not easy running for public office. He then relayed something that late councilman Jason Wilson had previously said to emphasize his point: “As my friend and colleague Jason Wilson used to say, ‘You’re putting your name out there, raising your hand and saying, ‘Do you like me?’”
There were no formal department reports, but the library department encouraged people to keep up with Gadsden Public Library’s Facebook page to see when the building would reopen following a plumbing issue that resulted in water damage.
President Back also announced that the garbage pickup routes would change in observance of the Labor Day holiday: Monday pickups would be moved to Tuesday, Tuesday pickups would be moved to Wednesday and Thursday and Friday pickups would remain the same.
In other business, the council also approved the minutes of the previous meeting, ratified the payment of accounts for the week of Aug. 21 through Aug. 27 and entertained the motion to approve the issuance of an alcoholic beverage license to Laxmi Asa, Inc.
Councilman Chris Robinson was absent at Tuesday’s council meeting. Mayor Craig Ford was also not present.
The next city council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 10 a.m.
