Richland County Council elects Jessica Mackey chair, Derek Pugh vice chair; members select seats for 2025

Jessica Mackey was elected chair of the Richland County Council and Derek Pugh was elected vice chair at a special meeting on Jan. 2, 2025.

The votes were unanimous and taken after brief nominations under the council’s rules of procedure. The council then carried out its annual seating selection, choosing seats based on seniority and alphabetical order as prescribed by council rule 3.1.

Council rules provided the framework for the proceedings: Rule 2.7 governs the timing and removal threshold for the chair’s office, and Rule 3.1 governs seating selection. The meeting opened with roll call, an invocation and the pledge of allegiance before the council moved to organizational business.

During the chair election, Councilwoman English nominated Jessica Mackey for chair, saying, “I nominate Jessica Mackey to serve as chair.” The clerk then called the roll for the chair vote; each member recorded a “yes” response and the motion was approved. The clerk’s roll-call responses included Brenham, Pugh, Little, Livingston, Weaver, Baron, Aline, Mackey, English and Newton, all voting yes.

Following the chair election, Councilmember Weaver nominated Derek Pugh for vice chair, saying, “It is my honor to make a motion to retain as our vice chair, the honorable Derek Pugh from district 2.” A second was recorded, the clerk took the roll call, and the council again voted unanimously to approve the motion.

After the elections, the council applied Rule 3.1 to select members’ seats for 2025. The rule directs members to choose seats first by seniority of continuous service and then alphabetically. Several members announced their seating choices on the floor; the chair and vice chair remained in their seats. The transcript records members stating they would “stay here” or move down one seat as appropriate; no formal vote or objection to the seating selections was recorded.

The meeting closed after a motion to adjourn passed on a unanimous voice/roll call vote. Meeting business reported in the transcript consisted solely of organizational items: election of chair, election of vice chair, seating selection and adjournment.

Votes at a glance: - Election of chair: Motion to elect Jessica Mackey as chair; mover: Councilwoman English; second: not specified in transcript; vote: unanimous (Brenham: yes; Pugh: yes; Little: yes; Livingston: yes; Weaver: yes; Baron: yes; Aline: yes; Mackey: yes; English: yes; Newton: yes); outcome: approved. - Election of vice chair: Motion to elect Derek Pugh as vice chair; mover: Councilmember Weaver; second: recorded as provided on the floor; vote: unanimous (same recorded voting members); outcome: approved.

The transcript does not record debate over policy matters, budgetary items, contracts or legislation. The organizational actions took place under the council’s internal rules and do not include additional assignments or directives recorded in the transcript.