And welcome to this meeting of the Denton City Council.

Today's date, Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026.

It is 3 ish, 3 15 p.m.

And so we'll call the meeting to order.

And the first thing on the agenda are pledges to the United States and Texas flag.

Please stand with me if you're able.

And to the Republic for which it stands under God.

One state under God, one and invisible.

And uh before I come down, so the next thing on the agenda are uh canvassing the is that right?

This is the right for.

Yeah.

Got it.

Okay, perfect.

So canvassing the results, and then also uh if we are at capacity in here, so as people uh try uh may slide out, we may ask people if those spaces clear, we'll take a moment, take a pause, and let people come in.

Uh other than that, they'll be in the in the overflow uh temporarily or um during the duration.

So just want to make that announcement.

And that said, I will come down, right?

No, staff presents, right?

The the canvasing, they can present that.

Okay, so it's 3A, ID 260 0792, consider adoption of ordinance of the city of Denton, canvassing the returns and declaring the results of a of the municipal runoff election held on Saturday, June 13th, 2026, and providing an effective date.

As a reminder, on May 2nd, uh we held the general election for places 5 and 7, and in that race, no candidate received a majority of votes, and so we called a runoff on May 12th for June 13th.

The final election results provide uh the vote counts as follows.

Place five, candidate George Michael Ferry Jr.

received 50.39% of votes cast, and in place seven, the mayor candidate Chris Watts received 50.17% of votes cast.

City council needs to accept final results to officiate the outcome.

You can see here the official results provided to us by Denton County Elections Administration for place five.

And the results for place seven, the mayor's race.

With that, staff recommends uh adoption of the draft ordinance for the runoff election held on Saturday, June 13th, 2026.

And I'll stand for questions if you have any.

Okay, and forgive me, I went out of order, but was so we have a uh representative from District 5.

Mayor for the final time on motion approval.

Thanks, sir.

Representative from district two.

I second that.

Okay, we have a motion and a second to uh for item A.

Please vote on the screen.

And that passes 70.

That takes us to item uh 2A, ID 26070 proclamation uh for Brandon Chase McGee and appreciation.

So is it that so if you can meet me down at the podium?

Okay, well, give it a minute.

Yes, sir.

We'll send it there for a second, so you don't have to hold that while you speak, but that's we'll hold that up so people can see it.

Uh wanna we have a proclamation, and then uh I'll let you share your your your comments, and then we have we have a frame picture as well.

And so the proclamation meet reads a proclamation by the mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, to all whom these presents shall come greetings.

Whereas Brandon Chase McGee has served as council member at large, place five of the city city of Denton City Council from May 17, 2022 to June 23rd, 2026.

And whereas among his contributions to the community, Brandon Chase McGee has also served as a member of the Committee on the Environment Community Partnership Committee and Mobility Committee.

And whereas Brandon Chase McGee has served with the commitment, consistently demonstrating exceptional dedication to the city, and has the respect of his colleagues and community.

Now, therefore, our Gerard Hutch with Mayor of the City of Denton, Texas, formally conveyed that the community's appreciation of Brandon Chase McGee in the permanent manner by reading this proclamation into the official minutes of the City of Denton and be it further resolved that the City of Denton does hereby officially extend thanks to Brandon Chase McGee for his successful career as a council member of the City of Denton.

If we can give him a hand.

No, it's awesome, it's fantastic.

And we have something for you, don't forget back there.

But uh the the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um first I will uh if you don't mind, I want to address my colleagues.

I want to recognize all the other elected officials that are in attendance today.

Um, and to Susie and Jordan and Jill and Joe and Nick and Allison and Brian and Paul and Jesse and uh Vicky, there she is.

Um I'm grateful for having served with each and every one of you.

Of course, the mayor.

I'm sorry, both mayors.

Sorry, Chris, both mayors.

Um I'm grateful for having served with all of you all.

As you know, we've been through some some interesting times, some some tough times, but this council has always found a way to show through the fact to the facts and get it right.

The public hasn't always liked what we've done, but we've gotten it right.

There seems to be a lot of discourse about how decisions are made in this body and all legislative bodies.

Good councils don't always agree.

Good councils bicker and they fight, and sometimes it gets it gets nasty, gets contentious.

But at the end of the day, this council has always come together to do the right thing for this community.

And I salute you all for that.

Rest easy in that comfort with that when you put your head on the pillow at night that you've done the right thing.

The Twitter universe might not agree, but rest easy knowing that you've done the right thing.

They might call your names on Facebook, but rest assured, Knight, that you've done the right thing, because the truth is the facts and data matter.

And I'm thankful to have served in a deliberative body when we've been able to do so.

I'm thankful for the discourse, I'm thankful for the disagreements.

I've enjoyed serving with each and every one of you.

Again, I'm a better man for it.

Especially for having sat next to an attorney and council member Holland in particular.

Thank you all so much for allowing me to have this opportunity, and I wish you all well in the next term.

So, to the staff, you all are world-class professionals.

I'm so great to have been a part of an organization that does such good work for the people.

Yeah.

Sometimes you all get beat up.

Sometimes you all are the ones that are put into the lime fire.

Uh unnecessarily so, even by council, sometimes you all are put into the firing squad, but you all do the right thing.

I'm so proud of each and every one of the over 1,800 people who work at the city of Denton that I'm proud of this council that has made this organization the employer of choice in this city.

You all are world class.

I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things that you're going to do for the residents and the community at large.

Thank you to the staff.

And to the public.

If there's anything I can do for any of you, you all have my number.

I know most of y'all have my number because I get the calls and I get the texts.

Please continue to do so.

I'm happy to continue to leverage whatever knowledge and resources I have to help any individual in this community move forward.

I'm grateful for elected officials hiring me and lower than me for this opportunity.

There have been too many people to name.

Jen, thank you.

Jason, who's not here, thank you.

Um Cheryl, who's not here, thank you.

You all were formative in my early years on council and really helped me get my feet straight.

I'm grateful for former mayor Mark Burroughs.

I'm grateful for Hugh Coleman.

These are relationships that have irrevocably changed me, and I'm thankful for them, and I'll be thankful for them for the rest of my life.

So with that, um God bless you all.

Continue to keep the faith, and let's keep voting, because as I always say, if voting didn't matter, they wouldn't be working so hard to make sure that some of us can't do it.

Thank you very much.

Okay, and the next item is item B, ID two six zero seven nine three issue following the following to the newly elected council member's certificate of election statement of office officer and oath of office.

Okay, we will start with candidate Ferry presenting the certificate.

And then we'll be administering your oath if you want to take your place in front of the microphone.

Okay, first the statement of officer.

I state your full name.

I, George Michael Ferry, Junior.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I have not directly or indirectly.

That I have not directly or indirectly.

Paid, offered, promised to pay.

Paid, offered, or promised to pay.

Contributed or promised to contribute.

Any money or anything of value.

Any money or anything of value.

Or promised any public office or employment.

Or promised any public office or employment.

For the giving or withholding of a vote.

At the election of which I was elected.

City of Denton Council Member Place Five.

Or as a reward to secure my appointment.

Or as a reward to secure my appointment.

Or confirmation.

Or confirmation.

Whichever the case may be.

Whichever the case may be.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Okay.

And now for the oath of office for the state of Texas.

Okay.

I state your name.

I, George Michael Ferry, Jr.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute the duties of the office.

That I will faithfully execute the duties of the office.

Of City of Denton, Council Member Place Five.

Of City of Denton, Council Member Place Five.

Of the state of Texas.

Of the state of Texas.

And will to the best of my ability.

And will to the best of my ability.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

The Constitution and Laws of the United States.

And of this state.

And of this state.

So help me God.

So help me God.

And last, the oath of office for the city.

I state your name.

I, George Michael Ferry, Jr.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute.

That I will faithfully execute the duties of the office.

The duties of the office.

Of the City of Denton, Texas.

Of the city of Denton, Texas.

And will to the best of my ability.

And will to the best of my ability.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

The city charter.

The city charter.

And the code of ordinances and resolutions.

And the code of ordinances and resolutions.

Of this city.

Of this city.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you.

Oh, man.

Um I'll try not to be I'll try to be brief.

I know that we're running behind.

Um thank you to everybody in the overflow room right now who came to show up and show out.

Thank you to everybody.

That's them.

Uh we hear you.

You are heard.

You are seen.

We appreciate you.

Thank you to everybody in this room.

Thank you to my parents and my husband.

Um I'm really grateful to be here.

Um, I'm really grateful to the people of Denton for electing me to this position.

I look forward to the work ahead.

Um, if you don't know a lot about me, then I hope you know that I've been doing the work for a long time.

And I'm really, really grateful to be at this table and have a chair at it and to represent um numerous communities.

Um, I think I'll leave with I'm just really proud to be an out queer non-binary person who was elected to council.

First in the state.

First non-binary person elected to a public office in the state of Texas.

So I look forward to I look forward to working with this council, and I can't wait to see all of you at all the community events at all of the bi-monthly town halls I'll be holding.

I look forward to people blowing up my phone, like Brandon Chase McGee said.

Uh, I'm ready, and I can't wait to get to work.

Thank you so much.

Okay, I'll now invite Mayor Elect Watts down to receive his certificate of election.

And we'll now administer the oaths.

First is the statement of officer.

I state your full name.

I Chris Watts.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I have not directly or indirectly.

That I have not directly or indirectly.

Paid, offered, promised to pay.

Paid, offered, or promised to pay.

Contributed or promised to contribute.

Contributed or promised to contribute.

Any money or thing of value.

Any money or thing of value.

Or promised any public office or employment.

Or promised any public office or employment.

For the giving or withholding of a vote.

For the giving or withholding of a vote.

At the election at which I was elected.

At the election at which I was elected.

City of Denton Mayor place seven.

Or as a reward to secure my appointment.

Or as an award to secure my appointment.

Or confirmation.

Or confirmation.

Whichever the case may be.

Whichever the case may be.

So help me God.

So help me God.

All right, and now for the oath of office for the state.

I state your name.

I Chris Watts.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute.

That I will faithfully execute.

The duties of the office.

The duties of the office.

Of City of Denton Mayor, place seven.

Of the state of Texas.

And will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

Preserve, protect and defend.

The Constitution and Laws of the United States.

The Constitution and Laws of the United States.

And of this state.

So help me God.

So help me God.

And now for the oath of office of the city, I state your name.

I Chris Watts do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute.

That I will faithfully execute the duties of the office.

The duties of the office of mayor, place seven.

Of the city of Denton, Texas.

Of the city of Denton, Texas.

And will to the best of my ability.

And will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

The city charter.

The city charter.

And the code of ordinances and resolutions.

Of this city.

Of this city.

Congratulations.

All right, and then we'll invite supporters to come down for a photo.

Okay.

Yeah, you're the only one I'm room.

That's about what I'll push in.

Thank you.

I am going.

Okay.

I don't know if I'll just give you a question for that.

Here's his proclamation.

And then you'll take the diet and papers.

Thank you.

All right, we're gonna I don't know how many of you saw the original agenda, but we're gonna go a little bit out of order.

We're gonna take the proclamation to the mayor and wish him good speed and got a proclamation for you.

And we've got a video for you as well.

You wanna introduce yourself and your family, just so I mean everybody knows, but I want to give you an opportunity to do that.

Yeah, uh so uh Gerard Hudson with Mayor of my hometown for another couple of minutes and um I guess not, Charlie signed.

I was the former mayor, and anyway, so I have my my tie decorators and their coordinator.

Uh which so uh give me your name.

I'm a hut smith.

And I'm Alice, Diane.

Awesome, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good to see y'all.

All right, we've got a proclamation I'm gonna read.

Yes.

Uh this is a proclamation to all the whose presence shall come, greetings.

Whereas Gerard Husbith has served as council member for district one, and as mayor of the city of Denton City Council from May 16th, 2017 to June the twenty-third, two thousand and twenty-six.

And um and whereas among his many contributions to the committee, Gerard Husband has also served as a member of the Denton Planning and Zoning Board, the Agenda Committee, the Economic Development Partnership Board, the tax increment reinvestment number two board, uh Denton County Behavioral Health Leadership Team, Denton County Homelessness Leadership Team, the Dallas Regional Mobility Commission, the Lake Ray Roberts Planning and Zoning Commission, the North Texas Commission, and as an alternate for the Regional Transportation Council.

And whereas Gerard Husband has served with unwavering devotion, consistently exemplifying his loyalty to the city, and has the respect and admiration of colleagues as well as the broader community.

Now, therefore, I, Chris Watts, mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, formally convey the community's appreciation of Gerard Husbith in a permanent manner by reading this proclamation at the official minutes of the City of Denton.

And be it further resolved that the city of Denton does hereby officially extend thanks.

I'm gonna say to you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

So I'll do that.

And I'll say um so as I mentioned, it's it's been the pride of my life to serve as the mayor of my hometown.

All glory to God for that.

I believe our steps are ordered, and he blessed me with that opportunity.

As Mayor Watts mentioned, this state was put in action a long time ago.

So if you didn't know, I ran for office a couple of times before and lost, and in 2016 we ran and won and served in 2017.

I recommend winning.

It's better.

Then we re-elected, so 17, 19, turn right back around, ran in 2020, ran again in 22, ran again in 24.

Uh never unopposed, and we kept winning.

And that's credit to the citizens that didn't.

We made history in 2020, becoming the first uh black mayor or African American, if you prefer, uh, but truly proud of that opportunity to serve, and it's more of a reflection on our community.

Uh, if if you're wondering, and if you don't recall, uh, so my first year as mayor, there was the pandemic winter storm Uri, a confederate monument discussion, George Floyd protest, uh, and um and then later on in my tenure, we had a recall attempt and uh a ribbon cutting at a cemetery.

I can explain that.

Uh, but we we've done a lot, uh, and and that's credit to uh a lot of folks.

As you're leaving, I I every time I give someone a tour of City Hall, I invite them to go out.

As you go out of the chambers, go to the right, you'll see a wall of all the the mayors that have served in the city of Denton before.

The bottom row is the city manager that served before.

They're all black and white pictures, but when mine goes up, it'll be black and white for real.

Um, and then um uh I want to say thanks to my mom and dad.

I want to say thanks to my in-laws uh and my extended family, the community.

Uh if you didn't know, if you don't know my dad, uh it's the best political training ground in the world to work to grow up with that dude, it really helps.

Um, so I I appreciate him and his and him keeping it real, real.

Uh, my my immediate family is, I mean, I always say we when we're talking about what's next or what we're doing, it's always we because of package deal.

Um, you know, they're they're still in school and kids are mean, but they do great.

Um to city staff, I want to say how much um they mean, because if you don't, there's all the people that come in and they're like, hey, you gotta get them.

They're they're hiding these things, they're doing those things not true.

Uh, and for me, it was really the best way I can say it is me and um, I've had I guess this is my third city manager.

But uh it's it's more of a back-to-back thing, right?

It's they they run the business.

I tell people all the time that the council government, the council manager, former government is the best thing going.

Because I can win an election, that doesn't mean I can run a two billion dollar city.

Uh, but I can also inform uh though that that person that runs the city what's coming.

And so back to back, you we cover each other.

Same with with legal, and so thank you, city staff, thank you, DTV for for doing all putting all this on.

Uh you got to think during the pandemic we had um remote meetings and they're pulling all those things together, doing all those things, and and I rarely tell a story, I won't tell you who it is, but somebody on the team.

So, so the best advice I got was from um former mayor Joey Hawkins, he and his wife, and he's like, Hey, you need to know your your wife needs to watch all the meetings.

And I said, why would we ever do that?

And and and he said, Because it'll cause a gap in your day.

Uh, where you won't be able to communicate, it'll cause a communication cap.

So I was like, okay.

So first meeting after the pandemic, we're there, and we're back in chambers uh once we were able to.

Diane texts me a picture.

So the city manager, where the city manager was, looks great.

City attorney, where the city attorney is, looks great.

And then there's this dark spot in the middle.

That's me.

And so I go to staff, say, hey, we gotta get this fixed.

He's like, Yeah, we knew uh we we saw it.

And and it was it's it's the best statement, and it shows our relationship.

I love those guys.

Uh they said, hey, look, lighting in City Hall has always been a problem, just hadn't been a problem till now.

So that's second meeting, we got it tightened up, but it's an amazing group.

They do amazing things.

Uh Winter Storm Ure, all those things.

They're they're still making it happen.

So thank y'all very much, DTV team, and I'll hurry.

Uh, and then you know, thank you to the citizens and and fellow electeds here.

Judge Eads, thank you very much uh for your service to the Denton County.

I mean it's just so much growth.

And so thank you very much to other electeds here, former mayor Bill Heidelman, go visit Aurora Park there in Corinth.

He's doing amazing.

He was doing amazing work.

He's he took me under his wing.

Uh when I first got started, and and I'll leave you with um the I'll leave you with two, when it comes to the kids, because I I enjoy visiting elementary schools.

And so it's a it's a thrill of my life when I'm walking around, and some kid or some student points out to their parents, say, hey, that's the mayor, and they're like, How do you know that?

And so that's always cool.

And so my favorite four questions I got visiting schools.

And I've said this before if you heard me talk, but it's it's one uh that they always think the mayor's rich, and I have to disappoint them, but then I have to tell them we get a stipend of a thousand bucks a month, so they're like, I knew you were loaded.

And then one kid, unfortunately, it was during the uh when um Ukraine was invaded, and so they were wondered, they were worried if we were gonna get invaded.

I said, No, we're okay.

And then lastly, uh he said, Have you ever had to um bribe anyone?

I said, Yes, but we call that negotiations.

Uh and then just more recently, sign of the times, as y'all can imagine.

Some kid in the in a hoodie in the back, he's super nice kid, and he's like, Hey, what's with all these apartments?

So uh the future is bright.

Uh, and and so I uh that said, uh I'll leave you with a a joke that uh, well, first, uh I'll let me say this.

God bless the United States, God bless Texas, the great state of Texas.

God bless the city of Denton, and I'll leave you with this this joke that I learned at Disneyland.

He said, This is a joke for the mind readers.

Oh, we'll get up to the gotta get a picture, don't you?

Yeah, yeah, slide back up here, buddies.

We'll get a photo out.

So, uh, yeah, grab this and I'll grab this.

And shout out to staff.

This is this is my neighborhood.

Willow Creek, man, this is where it all happened, man.

Southeast Denton.

Uh, we've come a long way.

So this is this is awesome.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

And mayor uh staff put together a video that we're gonna play at this time, sort of commemorating your service to the city.

So if we could play that uh video.

Come on, when I'd be at an event and the mayor's there, like doing the pumpkin drop, and you see people gather around him.

You truly see someone that has cared about this community.

He's the classic Denton success story.

Uh Denton High School, go Broncos, uh North Texas, go mean green, and uh bleeding his hometown as mayor, I think, is is terrific.

Hi, Gerard Huttsville.

You solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear that I elected in 2020.

That's uh Winter Storm Ure, that's a pandemic, that's George Floyd protest, that's the Confederate monument protest.

And you know, they're like, come on in, the water's great.

You know, so it's it was tough.

It was it was tough that first year.

But I I think as a mayor, you pivot and you go with it and you work with what you have.

That's just you don't run for the job if you're not willing to, you know, take it as it comes.

The fact that he's so visible, the fact that he's out there in a bucket truck, the fact that he's out there riding on a fire truck, the fact that he goes out to sights and looks and sees what staff are doing.

He has been truly a mayor that has cared about this town.

I don't think any can say anything different.

Uh out there with the mayor is been fantastic, right?

It it's been the greatest tool when I go talk to elementary schools or high schools and that sort of thing, I can show them that, and it's kind of a product of what we do.

What happened here?

Oh no, we're gonna crash.

That's what my daughter said when we're on a bike ride.

That always sticks with me.

No, we're going to crash.

We're not gonna crash.

I'll go to conferences and I'll ask where are you the mayor?

In Denton.

Denton.

I was like, yes.

So I didn't know we had a black mayor in Denton.

And you know, again, it's a distinction, and there is I think a lived experience that you can bring to the table to help serve the community better or bring a new viewpoint to it.

Hi, how are you?

What's your name?

This is not a way stop for for the mayor.

This is this is where he was supposed to be.

He's he's always been here.

He will always be here.

He's gonna leave office, but he's not leaving town, and I appreciate that.

Great leadership, great staff to kind of coach me along.

So it's really been a I'm truly appreciative of all the help and all the people, other mayors, mentors, that sort of thing that helped me.

I'm truly grateful for all those folks that that supported us along the way.

I love it.

Okay.

Ready to go?

Okay.

All right.

Um, I wanted to save my comments, uh, just real briefly, but I want to do something that's a little unusual.

Uh, I think it's the first time that's happened, and that is when I was watching the Super Bowl in January, February, there was a commercial on at that time.

Uh, it was a you know, a mortgage commercial.

But when I finished watching it, the one thing I realized was if I win, I will play this video without the commercial aspect during my swearing in because it exudes and is an example of what my hope and vision is for this community, because it's about compassion, it's about kindness, and it's about community.

And some of you may recognize it.

You certainly, if you listen to the song, will recognize the song.

And then after it finishes, then I'll just say a few words about it and about uh the the honor of serving again as mayor of this great city.

So if we could uh if we could play that video, please.

Beautiful days.

This is my neighborhood, beautiful day for a neighbor.

Would you be mine?

I know it's hard, sweetie.

Could you but you'll still see Dad?

It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood and neighborly day for a beauty.

Star, could you be big storm coming in?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor.

Let's have the most of his being.

Thank you so much.

That's what I wish for our community.

That's what I wish for this council because I believe this council can continue to move forward and show an example, be an example to this community of how we can disagree on some issues, but we can still treat people with respect, civility, and understanding.

And that's what I want for us.

Because quite frankly, I know we all live in our little neighborhoods, but our city is a neighborhood, and we all live here together, and I'm hoping that as we move forward, as the council tackles tough issues, and we hear a lot of different opinions, we will move forward with the best solution because I truly believe that in disagreement, you will find the solution that maximizes the efforts for the community.

So uh welcome all my colleagues, thank you.

I look forward to serving with all of you, and I look forward to really uh moving forward and taking attacking the issues that are really important to our community.

And thank you to all the elected officials, Judge Eads, thank you, former mayor, appreciate your service.

Uh, and thank y'all for being here and celebrating with us today.

Uh, you know, a new day.

And let's just try to be more neighborly as we move forward.

So thank y'all very much.

I don't have a copy of an agenda, so I I need to figure out okay.

I'm the last one to figure these things out.

Okay, so now we have uh, where are we?

Right here.

Item C, which is ID 26-0791.

Mayor, thank you for uh giving me that idea.

I never just I never said the IDs, I just called out the agenda items, but I but I like that.

I like that.

Uh ID 26 0791.

Election of Mayor Pro Tem.

I've now called it, and we will uh the way we're gonna handle this.

Council has been hand oh handed out sheets uh for that, uh how we're gonna handle handle the process.

So what we're gonna do is have a presentation from staff, and then we're gonna take nominations from the floor.

Since I have called it and people have registered, then we will take it in the order that the speakers have requested.

So we're gonna take nominations from the floor, and we're gonna get the accumulation of the nominations, and then we'll go through the nominations one at a time as they were presented until someone reaches uh the majority vote for the mayor pro tem.

Any questions from council members on that as far as right now?

Okay, all right.

Okay, Christy Fogle, Chief of Staff and Interim City Secretary, just a little bit of background.

The Charter Dinton City Charter states the council shall, as soon as possible, after the annual election, elect from its membership, a mayor pro tem and the mayor pro tem shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor.

The process, as Mayor Watts stated, the mayor will open the floor to nominations for Mayor Pro Tem.

Only after the mayor announces nominations are now open.

Can members of the city council make nominations?

Council members must be acknowledged by the mayor before voicing their nominations, and a council member may only make one nomination at a time.

The mayor shall accept any as many nominations as members of the city council may wish to submit.

The nominating council member may make comments to describe the reasoning for their nomination, and the mayor will inquire of each nominee whether they accept the nomination.

The mayor shall then close the nomination process after verifying there are no more nominations received at this time.

The floor shall be opened for commentary from any member of the city council, and the item is open for public comment.

If any mayor shall put nominees to a voice vote in the order of nominations, in the order of the nominations were submitted.

Once a nominee receives a simple majority vote of those members president, no other nominations will be considered.

In the event of a tie for any or all nominations received, the nominees previously submitted shall again be presented for election.

Okay, all right.

When I call the order, uh the agenda item, the nomination nominations were then open.

So we have, I believe, three requests to speak.

And if it's my understanding from the past, these are cued in order.

So the top one is the first one, and this so forth and so on.

Is that correct?

Okay, all right.

All right.

So I'll recognize council member Stevens.

Sure.

Thank you, Mayor Watts.

Uh, gonna be a little out of the ordinary, but um I'm gonna nominate myself, Councilmember Nick Stevens for Mayor Pro Tem.

Uh, we're given an opportunity on here to explain why, and I'll I'll shortly say why.

Uh I've lived here 21 years.

I'm a small business owner in the community.

I've chaired uh the Health and Building Standards Commission for quite a few years.

I feel confident in my ability to lead as mayor pro temp.

I think most of you know me as someone who's honest, I don't lie, I don't cause drama.

I'm a straight shooter, and I commit to always getting the work done.

And so it would be uh an honor uh to consider me as Mayor Pro Tem to work alongside uh Mayor Watts for the next year.

Thank you.

All right, uh Councilmember Jester.

Um I would like to nominate uh Joe Holland as the longest serving uh council member here and someone that uh has grown up here.

Um I find him to be very fair, very even, uh, not play favorites, and he goes out of his way to be uh nonpartisan in his relationships.

So um I I think as far as a statesman, he'd be an excellent choice.

Okay, and uh one of the procedures is to ask the nominee if they accept the nomination.

The reason I did not ask Councilmember Stevens is uh I guess he would accept his own nomination.

So uh that's the only reason we deferred from that.

Right.

So council member Holland, do you uh accept that nomination?

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm humbled by the nomination.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Uh somehow something, some did some people uh retrieve the request to speak.

Okay, so I see I see no one else requesting to speak.

So are there any other nominations to be made today?

Okay, I will now close the nominations and we will take a vote based upon the nominations as they appeared.

So the first nomination will be uh, and there no second is required.

The first nomination for mayor pro tem is Nick Stevens, and we take a voice of a voice vote or a hand vote, and because it doesn't you can't really accommodate it on the so all in favor of Nick Stevens being mayor pro tem.

Signify by raising your right hand.

Okay, so that's five.

I believe is that five?

Was that five?

Okay, that's five.

So then uh we have reached the the majority uh above four or above.

So uh councilmember Stevens has won election as the mayor pro tem.

All right.

Congratulations, Mayor Pro Tim.

I will make sure I never miss a meeting.

No, I'm just kidding.

You're I'm teasing, I'm teasing you.

Uh okay, I believe that's the um we don't have it.

We we've already done the proclamation.

So I believe that brings us to the conclusion of our agenda, and we will close the meeting, adjourn the meeting.

We have some refreshments in the council work session.

Uh oh.

Oh, concluding items, yes.

I'm sorry, we got some concluding items.

I apologize.

So I want to open it up for concluding items.

Uh Mayor Pro Tim.

Uh, thank you so much, Mayor.

Um I wanted to congratulate you and and Councilmember Ferry on your wins.

I uh I am Mayor, as you called it a new day for debt, and I'm I'm really looking forward to it.

I think we're gonna get a lot of uh work done together, and so um Yeah, congratulations.

Outside of that, this is I think the last meeting we'll have for Pride Month.

So I just wanted to wish the community a happy Pride Month.

Uh you are uh loved by God, uh you're loved by this community, and um and and I'm grateful for you.

So thank you.

Councilmember Vila Rio.

Thank you, Mayor.

Want to first off thank my friend Councilmember Brandon Chase McGee for his four years and one month of service to our city.

Uh wish him well on his next endeavor.

Uh want to congratulate my new colleagues, Councilmember Ferry and Mayor Watts.

Congratulations.

We look forward to serving with you and congratulations to Mayor Pro Tem Nick Stevens.

Congratulations and happy Pride Month.

Yep.

Anyone else?

I've got a concluding item.

Well, first of all, thank everybody for coming and showing your support for everybody up here on the dais, because really, again, we're just a big neighborhood and we uh continue to work together to find the best solution for our community.

I do want to read section two of a resolution that was passed in I believe 20 uh, I'm not sure when I think it was last year.

Uh resolution of the city of Denton, Texas recognized in June as Denton LGBTQ plus Pride Month and providing an effective date.

This is the the second paragraph of that says the recitals are incorporated in this body.

The city's council of the city of Denton finds in its best interest of the city of Denton, city employees and city residents to recognize the month of June as Denton LGBTQ Pride Month in the city of Denton, encourage all residents to celebrate the work and contributions of the LGBTQ plus members of our community and recommit to advocating for and building a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance during this month and every month.

So if there's any and no other concluding items, I see none, we will stand adjourned.

Thank y'all for coming.