Hamilton appointed to Marianna City Council
By: Shelia Mader
In a unanimous vote, the Marianna City Commission has reappointed Kenny Hamilton to the vacant commission seat following the unexpected resignation of Jim Dean. Dean, who was scheduled to take office on June 3, but has accepted a new position at the county level, making him unable to serve.
City Manager William Long addressed the situation during the meeting, stating that the city had received the necessary documentation to confirm Dean’s resignation. “We have received what we need to receive, and that is essentially a resignation from him whereby he won’t be able to serve in the capacity for which he was planning to,” said Long. “The new county commission job or the county administrative job has come.”
Under the city charter, when a vacancy occurs with more than six months remaining in the unexpired term and no regular election scheduled within that time, the remaining city commissioners are required to appoint someone to serve temporarily until a special election can be held.
“We’ve had multiple conversations with our attorney and with Supervisor of Elections Carol Dunaway,” Long said. “We’re all very comfortable and very clear in terms of what the language says the next steps should be. This is in keeping with what our city charter says.”
The appointment of Hamilton was made with a motion by Commissioner Williams and seconded by Commissioner Pettis. The motion passed unanimously. Hamilton, who has previously served as chair of the commission, was then sworn back into office.
City Attorney Matthew Fuqua swore in Hamilton, “You solemnly swear or affirm that you will support, protect and defend the Constitution and the government of the United States and of the state of Florida... and that you will well and faithfully perform the duties of city commissioner for the city of Marianna... So help you God,” read the oath. Hamilton responded, “I swear.” Hamilton brought laughter when he said, “I promise I’ll do better this time.”
Following the swearing-in, discussion turned to the next steps for the special election. Long noted that since Dean’s resignation letter had been received, the city now enters a 60-to-90-day window to hold the election.
“We’ll begin that process by meeting with Supervisor Dunaway,” Long said. “Her office oversees our city elections. We'll establish the qualifying period and proceed accordingly.”
The exact date of the special election will be announced in the coming weeks. Until then, Hamilton will serve in the vacated seat.
