Hopewell City Council elects Parton mayor, Joyner vice mayor; allows Holloway to participate remotely

The Hopewell City Council on an organizational vote selected Councilor Parton as mayor and Rita Joyner as vice mayor and approved temporary remote participation for Councilor Holloway.

The council voted 6-1 to elect Councilor Parton as mayor after nominations and a roll-call vote. The council then voted 7-0 to select Rita Joyner as vice mayor. Earlier, the council approved a motion to allow Councilor Holloway to participate remotely while he was offsite; the motion passed 6-0 after Holloway said he was at “Prince George, the ER.”

The reorganization began with roll call and a motion to permit remote participation for Holloway. Council members said Holloway needed to state on the record where he was and why he was participating remotely; Holloway later answered that he could not hear initially, then said he was at “Prince George, the ER.” The council approved the motion to allow remote participation by roll call, 6-0.

Nominations for mayor followed. After nominations were closed, the council opened the nomination for discussion and then conducted a roll-call vote; the nomination of Councilor Parton carried 6-1. The vice mayor nomination was uncontested after Councilor Harris declined the nomination; Councilor Joyner was approved 7-0.

The council’s reorganization motions were conducted by roll call; where the transcript identified makers or seconders they are recorded in the meeting minutes. Several procedural clarifications were requested during the process about whether nominees required additional discussion before the roll call, but no amendments or further debate altered the outcomes.

The meeting moved on to subsequent business after the leadership and remote-participation votes were recorded.