The Henderson City Council on Monday voted to remove Council Member Garry Daeke as mayor pro tem and replace him with Council Member Michael Venable.
Daeke was not present at the meeting. WIZS News has reached out to Daeke for comment following his removal, but had not spoken with him as of noon Tuesday.
The vote was 4-1, with Council Member Sam Seifert casting the no vote on the motion to make Venable the mayor pro tem, which was made by Council Member Geraldine Champion and seconded by Council Member Tami Walker. Champion, Walker, Venable and Council Member Ola Thorpe-Cooper voted in favor of the motion.
In addition to Daeke, also absent were Council Members Sara Coffey and Lamont Noel.
The vote took place after the council returned to the open meeting following a closed session to discuss a lawsuit, but it was not listed on the agenda as an item for discussion. Neither was that portion of the meeting available via livestream as the first part of the meeting; according to City Clerk Tracey Kimbrell, the IT person left the meeting after the council went into closed session.
City Manager/City Attorney Hassan T. Kingsberry told WIZS News Tuesday that he was “unaware that the Council would be removing Councilman Daeke yesterday,” and added that he had no other details than what was provided in the meeting.
At the December Council meeting, Champion inquired about replacing Daeke, but no action was taken.
According to information from the UNC School of Government, councils must choose a mayor pro tem at the organizational meeting, but it also can choose – with or without cause – to “vote to remove the MPT at any time, and appoint a new one.”
There was no discussion following the motion and the second before the vote was called.
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