The Bellmead City Council chose District 2 Councilman Travis Gibson on Tuesday as the city’s new mayor.
In a departure from its regular practice, the council discussed its selections for mayor and mayor pro tem in a public meeting. Gibson, who was re-elected May 4 over challenger Ioan Faur, said he made the motion to hold the discussion in open session as part of a focus on transparency.
After each city election, the council typically has met behind closed doors, in “executive session,” to choose a mayor and mayor pro tem from among the council members.
“First off, I’m all about being transparent and I only thought this would be right,” Gibson said. “I was going to refuse to go back into executive session, because the people have the right to hear who should be mayor.”
Gibson said he would have nominated Alfreda Love as mayor since she is the outgoing mayor pro tem. But outgoing Mayor William Ridings made a motion to name Gibson as mayor. Love could continue as mayor pro tem and likely would be named mayor after the next election, Ridings said.
The council voted 4-2 to name Gibson as mayor. Councilmen Gary Moore and Doss Youngblood voted against Gibson.