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Savannah mayor, council narrow Recorder's Court pro tem nominations to a seven-member list

Savannah City Council (workshop) · April 28, 2026
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Summary

Council discussed and consolidated a long slate of Recorder's Court pro tem nominees and settled on a seven-person shortlist to forward to Chatham County for approval; members flagged training costs and asked that appointments be reviewed through an equity lens.

Savannah's mayor and council used a workshop session to pare down a long list of potential Recorder's Court pro tem judges to a shorter slate they plan to forward to Chatham County for appointment consideration.

The mayor opened the topic by explaining the council's role: the city proposes names and the county commission approves Recorder's Court pro tem judges. He said 22 names had been circulated but recommended limiting the recommendations to "five to seven" nominees because of training costs and the low likelihood that all nominees will be needed.

Council members then proposed individual nominees. The mayor read back a consolidated group that he said gave the council seven names. The list, as the mayor read it aloud, included Vanessa Bailey, Tony (name varies in the record), Jim Davenport, Deborah Geiger, John Manley, Shante Parker and Ty Wilson. (The transcript at different points records the nominee's surname as both "Tony Sinner" and "Tony Center"; the record retains both spellings.)

Council members stressed the administrative realities: pro tem judges must be trained and the city bears those costs for appointees, and the county may not select all submitted names. One council member noted that some nominees had been recommended by an existing panel of Recorder's Court judges (an asterisk indicated that in the materials). The mayor asked staff to forward the shortened list to the county and said council could reconvene the item if the county rejected nominees or more names were needed.

Next steps: staff will send the condensed list to Chatham County and schedule a formal vote where appropriate; the city attorney had reviewed the nominations through the city's equity goals.