Ann Arbor City Council met Monday evening at Larcom City Hall to elect the mayor pro tempore for 2022 to 2024, establishing the order of succession for acting mayor. The entire meeting lasted roughly 45 minutes.
City Councilmember Travis Radina, D-Ward 3, was unanimously elected by the Council as Ann Arbor’s mayor pro tem, and will serve as Ann Arbor’s first openly gay mayor pro tem in over two decades. Mayor pro tem is an elected position that establishes the temporary mayor of Ann Arbor if the currently elected mayor, Democrat Christopher Taylor, is unavailable.
At the meeting, Radina said he is excited to hold this position for the upcoming term.
“I am honored that my new colleagues have placed (their) trust in me to serve in this important leadership role for our city, and welcome the opportunity to expand my service to this Council and the community we all love,” Radina said. “I am particularly humbled to be selected by the current composition of the City Council, which has become the most diverse in our city’s history. The magnitude of that honor and the responsibility that comes with it is not lost on me.”
The meeting was also the first time the five newly elected councilmembers joined the rest of the Council in Larcom City Hall. Following the Nov. 8 midterm election, Ann Arbor City Council is now the most diverse makeup of councilmembers in city history. In a press release sent after the meeting, Radina said he is particularly proud to work alongside a diverse council to improve Ann Arbor’s quality of life and city services.
“I look forward to working with each of my colleagues over the next two years to restore civility on this body and confidence in our government, to deliver better-than-basic city services, to continue making progress toward our housing and climate goals, and to advance progressive policies that make Ann Arbor a desirable place to live, learn, work, raise a family, recreate and eventually retire,” Radina wrote in the press release.
Radina was elected into this position after his pro tem predecessor Julie Grand, D-Ward 3, decided not to run for reelection as a councilmember this November. Radina will serve in this role for the next two years until the next election in 2024, which coincides with the next round of city council elections.
Daily News Editor Shannon Stocking and Daily Staff Reporter Sejal Patil can be reached at sstockin@umich.edu and sejpatil@umich.edu.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Radina’s name in the headline. The headline has been corrected with the correct spelling, Travis Radina.
A previous version of this article said that the position of mayor pro team would serve for the next four years and would be elected in 2026. The article has been updated to correctly state the term is only two years. The next election will coincide with the next cycle of city council elections in 2026.