Harrisburg council names Maurice Price mayor pro tem, approves regional representation and schedules retreat

Maurice Price was named mayor pro tem in a unanimous vote at a Town of Harrisburg council meeting, council members said.

The council’s chair opened the meeting by saying they wished to "serve in this position" on a regional collaboration and "would also appreciate a motion to include me and Patrick as the alternate designation," and Mister Smith moved that the chair and Patrick be designated; the council voted in favor and the chair directed the town clerk to record who voted for the motion.

The discussion of council procedures included a proposal that the mayor pro tem be selected according to historical practice — the council member who received the most votes in the previous election — and the assembly moved to appoint Maurice Price to the post. "Motion to have Mister Price fill the position of mayor pro tem," a councilmember said; the motion was seconded by the chair, councilmembers voted "aye," and the chair congratulated Price.

Council members also discussed internal procedures for placing items on agendas. The chair said motions that arise from special presentations or council comments should be added as separate agenda items ahead of a meeting so members have time to review them. The chair proposed moving rezoning items that draw public comment earlier in the agenda so speakers are not kept waiting and suggested continuing to call out individual votes for the public record and for Janet, the town clerk, to record votes by name.

On ceremonial practice, the chair said the council would rotate invitations to local pastors for invocations and named Mike Thevenin of Harvest Church to lead the invocation at the Jan. 10 meeting.

The council set a schedule for a retreat and related budget planning sessions. Members discussed using the Jan. 13 evening meeting (6–9 p.m.) as an introductory session and then meeting on Jan. 29 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a longer retreat aimed at shaping goals for the upcoming budget season. Staff cautioned that the existing budget schedule may require moving some items; staff and the manager (Brian Lee was named in the discussion) agreed to coordinate calendars and circulate a request for each council member’s top five goals ahead of the retreat.

Toward the end of the meeting the council voted unanimously to adjourn the public portion and move into a closed session to discuss personnel matters. After returning from closed session, members moved to adjourn the meeting and the chair closed the session.

The meeting included no ordinance readings or formal legislation; the primary formal actions recorded in the public portion were the designation of regional representation, appointment of a mayor pro tem and the scheduling of a council retreat. The clerk was asked to record individual votes on key motions for the public record.

Next procedural steps noted by council members included staff producing a draft retreat agenda and circulating it in advance so council members could prepare, and scheduling follow-up budget meetings as needed. The council did not publish detailed budget decisions during the public portion of the meeting, and the personnel discussion took place in closed session.