Tavares council elects Laurie Pfister mayor, Bob Grenier vice mayor; reappoints pension board member

Laurie Pfister was elected mayor by her colleagues at the Nov. 19 City of Tavares council meeting after nominating herself and speaking to her experience and priorities for the year. The council conducted the mayoral selection by the charter-prescribed process the city administrator described; Pfister was declared elected after a hand-raise vote.

The council then nominated and elected Bob Grenier as vice mayor. Grenier accepted the nomination and several members offered remarks in support before the hand-raise vote that the administrator announced as passing.

Councilmembers also handled several organizational items. Doug Roberts requested reappointment to the council-appointed police pension board; the council moved and seconded the reappointment and approved it unanimously. The administrator reviewed about 16 multi-year city projects and invited councilmembers to serve as liaisons; members confirmed assignments for regional park partnerships, economic development, gateways, the Fairgrounds and other initiatives.

The meeting opened with a certified reading of municipal election results for the Nov. 4 vote; the clerk recorded vote totals for council candidates as presented in the meeting packet.

The mayor closed the meeting after brief departmental reports and congratulations to new members.

Votes at a glance: the internal leadership selections were decided by council raise-of-hands under the charter process; the police pension reappointment passed on a recorded motion and second.

Next steps: council liaisons will begin meetings with staff on ongoing projects and staff will return with more detailed packages as projects reach decision points.