HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019 01-23 Maplewood's choice for new mayor came down to two council members MAPLEWOOD REVIEW
Maplewood’s choice for new mayor
came down to two council members
Submitted by admin on Wed, 01/23/2019 - 12:00am
Abrams sworn in; council still has two vacancies
Winner of a 2-1 council vote, council member Marylee Abrams was sworn in as mayor at the Jan. 14
Maplewood City Council meeting.
Abrams ascended to mayor months after barely holding on to her council seat, surviving two recounts
and a coin flip following a tight election to stay on the council.
Maplewood started the year without a mayor after Nora Slawik, who easily won re-election for another
four-year term in the position, resigned to chair the Metropolitan Council.
The Maplewood council chose to fill the mayor’s seat Jan. 14 by appointing a council member to be
mayor for two years, followed by a special election during the 2020 general election, for what would
have been the remaining two years of Slawik’s term.
Maplewood also started the year down a council member — former member Tou Xiong left in the
middle of his term to be sworn in as Minnesota House District 53A representative.
This left the council with three members to vote for the next mayor.
Council members began by nominating a candidate. Abrams and council member Bryan Smith both
nominated themselves.
“Want to make it three of a kind?” Smith asked council member Kathleen Juenemann.
“No, absolutely not,” she replied.
A brief candidate forum broke out with Juenneman playing moderator, asking each of her colleagues
questions.
Smith, who’s been on the council since 2016 and has two decades of experience in business and
marketing, said his strengths include skills to set and sell a vision for the city and conduct meetings.
A practicing attorney for 35 years with five years on the council, Abrams said she, too, knows her way
around a meeting, and named revisioning the Maplewood Mall and North End retail corridor so it can
remain vibrant, in an online-shopping world, as a top priority.
Though council members could nominate themselves, they could not vote for themselves. Abrams and
Smith voted for each other.
It all came down to Juenneman. “I vote for Marylee.”
“I want to thank both of my colleagues,” said Abrams. She began fanning her face with her hand, “\[I’m\]
kinda taking a moment.”
Abrams walked around the dias and was sworn in.
More empty seats
Appointing Abrams from the council to be mayor created another open council seat — the two council
vacancies will be filled by appointment Feb. 11.
Maplewood residents are invited to apply by Jan. 30 for the positions. Applications are available at the
city website www.maplewoodmn.gov.
Finalists will be interviewed at the Feb 11 council workshop at City Hall, which is open to the public.
The council will make its selections later during that evening’s council meeting. The appointments are
for two years, and both seats will be up in the 2020 election.
–Solomon Gustavo can be reached at sgustavo@lillienews.com or 651-748-7815.nsive public servants.