The Harrisonburg City Council held an organizational session in which it elected a mayor and vice mayor, confirmed several staff appointments, approved a committee roster and adopted an updated electronic communications policy that expands when members may participate remotely.

City leaders elected Mayor Reid and Vice Mayor Daniel Fleming and confirmed internal appointments for the city manager, city attorney and city clerk. Council also approved the list of council members and staff who will serve on boards, commissions and intergovernmental liaisons.

City Attorney Chris Brown, who explained the policy changes to council, said the General Assembly updated state law to add a third category allowing remote attendance when a council member must care for a family member with a medical condition that prevents physical attendance. "First, the policy now needs to be adopted every year, so we can do it now," Brown said. He said the law also increased the allowable personal-use remote appearances from two meetings per year to "2 or 25% of the number of meetings," a change that makes remote participation available up to six meetings a year for this council.

Brown told council the other statutory safeguards remain: a member seeking to appear electronically must identify the reason to the mayor before the meeting, a physical quorum of council members must be assembled in one location, and the council must vote to approve the member's electronic attendance. He added that longstanding rules on mayoral succession apply: if the mayor is attending electronically the vice mayor chairs the meeting in the mayor’s physical absence.

On leadership and staff, the council recorded roll-call votes for each appointment as the motions were presented. The transcript records the following named votes for the election of Mayor Reid: Council member Al Saddoon (Aye), Council member Dent (Aye), Vice Mayor Daniel Fleming (Aye), Mayor Reid (Aye), Council member Robinson (No). The council then elected Daniel Fleming as vice mayor by recorded aye votes from Council member Al Saddoon, Council member Dent, Council member Dunning, Council member Robinson and Mayor Reid.

Appointments to city positions were confirmed by roll call as recorded in the meeting: Andy Banks was appointed city manager (aye votes recorded from Council member Al Saddoon, Council member Dent, Vice Mayor Fleming, Council member Robinson and Mayor Reid); Chris Brown was appointed city attorney (aye votes recorded from Council member Al Saddoon, Council member Robinson and Mayor Reid in the portions of the roll call captured in the transcript); and Pam Ulmer was appointed city clerk (aye votes recorded from Council member Al Saddoon, Council member Dent, Vice Mayor Fleming, Council member Robinson and Mayor Reid).

Council approved a slate of committee and intergovernmental appointments as presented by the mayor, including councilmember assignments to the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC), the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization (HRMPO), the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board and several city liaisons to regional bodies. The mayor also noted staff appointments related to regional commissions: city staff appointees mentioned included Andy Banks and a staff member identified as Gautobu (as well as alternates Cheryl Spain and Amy Snyder as alternates for staff positions) for regional planning representation.

Votes at a glance

- Election of Mayor Reid — Motion to elect; mover/second not specified in the transcript. Recorded votes in the transcript: Al Saddoon (Aye), Dent (Aye), Fleming (Aye), Reid (Aye), Robinson (No). Outcome: approved.

- Election of Vice Mayor Daniel Fleming — Motion to elect Daniel Fleming; mover/second not specified. Recorded votes in the transcript: Al Saddoon (Aye), Dent (Aye), Dunning (Aye), Robinson (Aye), Reid (Aye). Outcome: approved.

- Appointment of Andy Banks as city manager — Motion to appoint Andy Banks as city manager; mover/second not specified. Recorded votes in the transcript: Al Saddoon (Aye), Dent (Aye), Vice Mayor Fleming (Aye), Robinson (Aye), Reid (Aye). Outcome: approved.

- Appointment of Chris Brown as city attorney — Motion to appoint Chris Brown as city attorney; mover/second not specified. Recorded votes captured in the transcript: Al Saddoon (Aye), Robinson (Aye), Reid (Aye). Outcome: approved (votes shown in transcript). The transcript does not include a full roll call for all members.

- Appointment of Pam Ulmer as city clerk — Motion to appoint Pam Ulmer as city clerk; mover/second not specified. Recorded votes in the transcript: Al Saddoon (Aye), Dent (Aye), Vice Mayor Fleming (Aye), Robinson (Aye), Reid (Aye). Outcome: approved.

- Adoption of the electronic communications policy — Motion to approve the policy as presented; passed by voice vote. The motion "carries" following an "aye" voice vote; the transcript records no individual roll-call tally for this item.

- Approval of committee list and appointments — Motion to approve the committee list as presented; passed by voice vote. The transcript records an "aye" voice vote and a motion-carried announcement; no individual roll-call tally is recorded for this item in the provided transcript.

The meeting record shows several instances where council clarified committee membership and staff liaisons for regional boards, and a brief exchange establishing that a task force may be left without members or formally disbanded if council chooses. Council closed the meeting with congratulations to newly seated council members and an adjournment.

Notes on scope and sources

The article is based on remarks and roll-call statements in the meeting transcript. Where the transcript records named roll-call votes, this article lists those named votes exactly as spoken. Several items were approved by voice vote, and the transcript does not record individual tallies for those motions; the article notes when a roll-call tally was not captured in the provided transcript. All legal references in the transcript are to state law or actions of the General Assembly as described by City Attorney Chris Brown; no specific statute number was given in the meeting record.