The Austin City Council elected Council Member Vanessa Fuentes as mayor pro tem for 2025 during a special meeting on Jan. 6, 2025. Council Member Ellis moved the motion and Council Member Jose Velasquez seconded it; the council adopted the motion without objection, with Council Member Harper Madison noted as absent.

Council Member Ellis introduced the motion, saying, "I move that for the remainder of the year 2025, we have Vanessa Fuentes as our mayor pro tem. And for the year 2026, we have Jose Chito Vela as our mayor pro tem." An initial drafting error on the year in the motion was corrected on the record before the council voted.

Mayor pro tem serves as the presiding officer in the mayor's absence and performs other duties assigned by the council and mayor. After the vote, Fuentes thanked her colleagues, saying, "First and foremost, thank you, colleagues, for your confidence. I appreciate the trust that you've placed in me to serve as your mayor pro tem for this year. I'm grateful for it, and I'm looking forward to our work together." Mayor Kirk Watson congratulated Fuentes on the appointment.

The council described the action as a routine organizational step. The motion specified that Fuentes' term as mayor pro tem runs through Dec. 31, 2025, and that Jose Chito Vela will serve as mayor pro tem for the year 2026 until a successor is elected by the council. The motion was adopted without recorded dissent; the transcript records the adoption as "Without objection, the motion is adopted with council member Harper Madison being absent."