The Corinth City Council installed a relative newcomer to city politics Thursday night, putting Randy Gibbons in the seat left vacant when voters elected Paul Ruggiere mayor in May.

Randy Gibbons

Gibbons, 33, a finance manager with Southwest Airlines, said he began attending council meetings a few years ago and had hoped to run for office in 2006. But his wife got a rare form of cancer, and while she sought treatment, city politics had to take a back seat.

Since her recovery, he became president of the Post Oak Crossing Home Owners Association in March 2007.

The experience has taught him about listening to people and making good decisions, he said, particularly since some homeowners associations have reputations for being inflexible.

“A lot of these homeowners association rules are kind of cookie-cutter,” Gibbons said. “The homeowners don’t have a voice, since the rules are usually created as the first homes are being built.”

Changing bylaws is very expensive, so his association has taken the tact of listening to requests and granting many exceptions. The key has been keeping good documentation of those exceptions, Gibbons said.

Council member Jim Mayfield nominated Gibbons after the council discussed the process, and the candidates, in executive session.

Mayfield said council members had a lot of discussions about how to fill the spot, since they had never done anything like it before.

“We had our Robert’s Rules books, and the city charter,” Mayfield said. “But we knew it would not be good to vote on someone in executive session.”

Mayfield said he had his preferences among the potential nominees, and he heard from other council members about theirs. As he listened to other council members, he could see there was more support for some candidates than others, but the most seemed to be for Gibbons.

When the council reconvened in open session, Mayfield raised his hand as soon as the mayor called for nominations.

“I knew whoever got their hand up first — like a TV game show — would be able to make the first nomination,” Mayfield said.

Fellow council member John Booher made another nomination, for businessman and retired educator J. Neil Admire. Robert’s Rules of Order required that they consider Mayfield’s nomination of Gibbons first.

Since the vote for Gibbons was unanimous, the council wasn’t required to consider the second nomination, Ruggiere said.

Gibbons was one of eight people who expressed an interest in the Place 1 vacancy; the others were Admire, Gilland Chenault, Lisa Clawson, Bob Holsomback, Mark Klingele, Gary McDonald and Sherry Schneider.

“We had a really good group of people to choose from,” Ruggiere said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.