Re-elected city board members Kiffinea Talley, Reginald Easter and Trevor Coffee were sworn in by District Judge Tony Yocom. Following this, the board went into executive session for about 10 minutes to discuss and elect the new Mayor and Vice Mayor of the City of Hope. The board announced and passed a motion made by Director Linda Clark and seconded by Director Mark Ross, to elect Don Still as the new Mayor. The vote was unanimous. Steve Montgomery, outgoing Mayor thanked everyone for the honor to serve as Mayor of Hope then he turned the meeting over to Mayor Don Still. Preceding this, Trevor Coffee nominated Kiffinea Talley as candidate for Vice Mayor of Hope and the board voted in favor making her the first woman to serve as Vice Mayor in the City of Hope. Vice Mayor Talley said “Thank you all for your confidence in me.” Still and Talley were sworn in by Judge Yocom as they promised to serve the community to the best of their abilities. 

The board moved on and approved the minutes from the previous meeting in 2020 and went on to discuss the Klipsch City Hall Auditorium. Don Still, part of the Klipsch Museum board shared that they plan to be able to show movies in the auditorium in the future. The board voted on a new agreement being that the auditorium had been rented to Klipsch for some time now. 

City Manager Catherine Cook was present to share the update on her report of projects within the city. She shared that the city is working on the drainage project and pouring concrete on Texas Street in Hope and shared that the large rooms in Hope Fair Park Community Center and Northside Park Community Center had recently been painted. Cook shared that first responders in this area will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as next week. Cook also shared an update on the City Hall roof project saying the crew has been able to work this week due to nicer weather conditions. 

The meeting was adjourned and will reconvene for their next regular meeting.