The Bartlett Board of Mayor and Alderman voted Tuesday, July 12, to appoint Mandy Young to fill the unexpired term of Alderman Emily Elliott in Position 2.
Young, who is currently chairman of the Bartlett Planning Commission, was vying for the interim alderman position along with Planning Commission member Jim Lamb, Shelby County government employee Brandon Weise, and Ed Brooks, senior project manager for Spirit Architectural Group.
Former Bartlett Alderman Paula Sedgwick, who interviewed for the interim position June 28 along with the other four candidates, withdrew her name from consideration before Tuesday night’s meeting.
Alderman W.C. “Bubba” Pleasant could not make the meeting, so only four aldermen and Mayor Keith McDonald voted to appoint Elliott’s replacement.
Each of them circled two of the four candidates’ names, indicating their top two choices for the appointment. Young was chosen on all five ballots, Lamb received three votes and Brooks got two votes, so Young was put up for a formal vote for the position by the board and was appointed unanimously, 5-0.
Kevin Quinn had circled Brooks and Young; McDonald circled Lamb and Young; David Parsons circled Lamb and Young; Bobby Simmons circled Brooks and Young; and vice mayor Jack Young circled Lamb and Mandy Young.
McDonald later sworn in Mandy Young as the newest alderman.
She said the list of candidates was great and anyone of them would have done an amazing job fulfilling the final months of Elliott’s term, “which shows the passion of the citizens of Bartlett, and shows a great outlook for the city and for our future.”
“I was fine coming in and not winning. It was a great honor to win, but if I wasn’t chosen, I was happy for anyone who was chosen.”
Being on the Planning Commission, she is familiar with things happening in the city, but her approach will be to listen, study and learn.
“My goal for the next few weeks is to talk to the aldermen, get their opinions on what they’ve learned, and meet with the mayor,” she said. “There is tons of experience on the board, so I would be remiss if I didn’t learn from them and talk to them.”
