Reluctantly or not, a torch has passed for the City of Milton’s leadership. Exactly half of city council, by the beginning of their terms in October, will be either new to the council or in a new position. When he takes his position, the council’s new leader will be Wesley Meiss, the next mayor of Milton.
Both Meiss and outgoing Mayor Guy Thompson started young in city leadership. However, both prove youth need not imply lack of leadership ability.
Thompson said he was elected to city council in 1978 and was 24 years old at the time. “I was already a businessman, so I had some maturity but not like today,” he said. Thompson said in his second year as councilman, he asked newly elected mayor, Millard Adams to appoint the downtown redevelopment committee. “That’s how the river walk started,” he said. According to Thompson, Milton has a “weak mayor system” meaning, he said, “I can read proclamations and cut ribbons, but that’s it. You can’t do anything without the cooperation of the council.”
Thompson spent 16 years on city council before running for mayor. “I drew the short straw,” Thompson said. He also confirmed if he had won this term, it would have been his last. Meiss spent half of his first council term, 2 years, before running for mayor. The Hobbs Middle School teacher described this position as his boyhood dream. While Meiss was more aggressive in pursuing the position, he recognizes the divide in the city right now. Although he knows 40 percent of those voting in the City of Milton race didn’t vote for him, the mayor-elect said, it’s now his responsibility to pull Milton together. Meiss said his message is one of inclusion and collaboration. "We've been split apart by this race. But now I want us to come together to work for the good of Milton," he said.
“Our own chapter is being written,” said Meiss. “100 years from now people will look back at this historic race. 7 out of 9 seats were up for election,” he said. He referred to his upcoming term as a ‘new era’ for Milton.
Keep reading in months to come for more on the new council and a retrospective of a two-decade mayor.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton City Council looks toward new era with new leadership