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Former Buena Vista Mayor Todd Jones has returned to City Council. He was selected Thursday from seven candidates who put their names forward in what was an extraordinary show of interest in a vacancy created by the elevation of Tyson Cooper to mayor in the recent November elections.
Jones will serve on an interim basis for 10 months, until a special election can be held next November. A retired attorney, Jones served on City Council previously from 1998 to 2008, including the last three of those years as mayor. In his public interview with Council on Thursday, he said he was offering his experience on a temporary basis and has no plans to run in the special election to complete the final year of Cooper’s term as a regular member of Council.
Six other people interviewed for the interim seat on Council – Jody Fix, who recently retired from a dialysis center; Tim Petrie, a former Council member who recently retired from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality; Stan Coffey, a retired wastewater treatment operator who served on City Council the past six years; Steve Baldridge, a local attorney and former member of City Council and the School Board; Jennifer Humphries, a retired nurse who was a candidate in the recent Council elections; and Michael Lonergan, a local Realtor.
After interviewing the seven candidates, Council went into closed session to discuss the appointment. After about an hour, Council reconvened in open session. Steve Webb made a motion to nominate Jones for the vacancy. Ronald Cash seconded the motion, which passed 5-0.
Council postponed selecting a vice mayor until its next meeting on Feb. 1.
