Chris Berendt/Sampson Independent

Judge Carol Jones administers the oath of office to newly appointed Garland mayor Winifred Murphy while Murphy’s husband Danny holds the Bible.

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Less than two months ago, Winifred Murphy took the oath of office as one of Garland’s newly-elected commissioners. On Thursday, she took another oath — this time as the town’s next mayor.

The appointment capped off a crazy week for Garland, with longtime mayor Anthony Johnson submitting his immediate resignation at a special-called meeting just one week earlier. At Thursday’s meeting, the board also discussed the process for appointing a new commissioner, which is expected to be done at the town board’s Feb. 14 meeting, following an application process opened Friday.

At Thursday’s meeting, Rob Shepherd from the North Carolina League of Municipalities spoke with the Board of Commissioners about the roles and responsibilities of the mayor and Council.

Shepherd told the board the town, like other small municipalities, had a “weak mayor” form of government, one in which the power resides with the commissioners. They can choose to delegate power to the mayor, who is a “facilitative leader” who is “trying to build consensus in moving the town forward,” Shepherd noted. As for the commissioners, he said, “you are elected individually, but you work together as a team to represent the citizens.”

“Mayor pro-tem is largely a ceremonial role, but a very important role as you have seen,” Shepherd told the board. “Now you have before you the challenge of filling the vacancy of mayor. You always have to have a mayor, so you’ll have to appoint somebody. This soon after a general municipal election, you’re going to have to fill the vacancy fairly promptly.”

At that point, mayor pro-tem Mike Toler opened the floor for nominations.

Commissioner Ralph Smith nominated Murphy, a motion seconded by commissioner Coleman Johnson. The appointment was approved unanimously and, after Murphy took her second oath in little more than seven weeks, the move was greeted to applause and congratulations from the approximately 30 citizens packed in the small room.

Murphy took her seat at the head of the table, thanking the board and the many in attendance.

“I thank you all for your confidence and faith,” Murphy said. “As you’ve worked with us the past couple months, I have really enjoyed being a commissioner. I have gotten comfortable in that seat.”

She said much has already been accomplished, and there was still much more to do. The switch from commissioner to mayor was not one taken lightly, she said.

“It is with deep thought and prayer that I’m changing positions, because as we’ve heard mayor has limited power and is more of a facilitator,” she said. “I look forward to being a facilitator. I love all of you and I expect to represent you very well. I look forward to representing you as mayor. I thank all of you for your support and I sincerely look forward to working with each of you.”

Later in the meeting, the board addressed the commissioner vacancy left upon Murphy’s appointment to mayor.

The board set a timeline for appointing a commissioner and also approved the application form that would be used to find the person who will fill the vacant four-year term, expiring in 2015. A list of seven expectations of the commissioner was also established.

Applications are available at the town’s website, at www.townofgarlandnc.com, and at town hall starting Friday. They should be returned to town hall no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 13 to be considered at the board’s Feb. 14 meeting, according to the vote by the board.

“I would like to review these applications and appoint a person to fill (the commissioner) vacancy at the next meeting,” said Smith.

Commissioners agreed the applications will be reviewed in open session at that Feb. 14 meeting, with a formal appointment to be made that same night. During the review of the applications, applicants should be present to be further interviewed if necessary, board members said.

Among the criteria that will be expected of the commissioner, he or she should: be aware of obligation of ethical conduct; be faithful in their performance of the duties of their offices; act as the especially responsible citizen whom others can trust and respect; be faithful in their attendance and in their preparation for meetings; willing to bear his or her fair share of the board’s workload; willing to put the board’s interests ahead of self; and knowledgeable and willing to endeavor to stay up to date on local, state, federal laws and policies. They should also uphold their oath of office.

Murphy asked if there was any further comment from the audience.

One concern was to request any criminal background information from applicants.

“I feel like it should be (in the application),” said resident Sylvia Carter. “I would strongly suggest that it be added somewhere. It’s something I feel like “

“I can’t help but agree with that,” said Smith. “I don’t want to put anybody in that is a criminal.”

He made a motion to amend the application to include such a provision. It was unanimously approved.

However, several concerns were then raised that the board should not exclude someone without considering the application as a whole, especially if a conviction was a misdemeanor. Having such an offense should not be the sole reason they are not appointed to the office, some said. Others raised concerns that the new commissioner should have at least a high school education, to which Murphy informed them that was included in the application.

Town attorney Andrew Jackson said, in the interest of time and feasibility with a short time frame set for accepting and considering applications, he would plan on crafting a question that asked about the applicant’s background, specifically whether there was anything that would or should prevent them from office.

Smith kept it simple. “If I don’t know enough about him that I know his character,” he said, “I’m not going to vote for him to start with.”

Murphy said she was anxious to get a new commissioner in the seat as soon as they could, so the new town board could proceed ahead together.

“We would like to fill the vacancy as quick as possible so we can move forward,” she said.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 121 or via email at sicrime@heartlandpublications.com.