ALBEMARLE — At the Albemarle City Council meeting on Monday night, reelected councilmembers were sworn into office, while other city officials were both elected and appointed for the upcoming year.
Five returning officials — Mayor Ronnie Michael and Councilmembers Martha Sue Hall, Bill Aldridge, Dexter Townsend, and Benton Dry — were each sworn into office by Stanly County Clerk of Superior Court Ginger Efird.
Originally elected as an Albemarle councilmember in 2011, Michael was elected as the city’s mayor two years later and has continued to serve in that role.
“You’re the ones that give me the time to do what I need to do for the city, and I appreciate you very much,” Michael said. “To all the residents of the city, thank you for allowing us to continue to represent you. I do value your vote — it’s a privilege to serve you and I look forward to the next four years. The next four years are going to be important to our city as we see tremendous growth. We have a new business park coming on board that we will be able to offer for economic development.”
Through a unanimous process, the council also elected City Manager Todd Clark and City Attorney Britt Burch to all continue in their current respective roles within Albemarle’s local government.
Additionally, Hall was elected to serve as the city’s mayor pro-tem once again.
“I learned from this particular election that local government — city government in particular — is right where it all happens,” Hall said. “When people come in the doors of these chambers, the one thing they want to do is to be heard. We may not be able to answer or to do what those individuals want us to do, but knowing that we will take the time to listen to them and genuinely listen to them is what they want.”
Prior to the meeting, Clark presented the council with his requests to reappoint Finance Director Jacob Weavil, Tax Collector Richard Lanzillotti, City Clerk Christina Brown, and Deputy City Clerk Darren Rhodes.
These requests were unanimously approved during the meeting without any discussion or competing nominations.
“There are a lot of good things going on in the city of Albemarle, especially with this team that we have up here,” Townsend said. “I say ‘team’ because on a lot of councils and administrations, you don’t always see the synergy that we have amongst each other.”
The Albemarle City Council is set to meet again on Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.