Joan Peck was handed the mayor’s gavel Monday night from outgoing Mayor Brian Bagley and began her two-year term as Longmont’s top elected leader.
“I am stunned,” Peck said as she took Bagley’s place at the mayor’s chair. Bagley served for two terms as mayor before deciding not to run for a third term.
Peck’s supporters clapped when she was sworn into office by City Clerk Dawn Quintana. Peck said from the mayor’s chair that she wanted the public to guide both her and the city council.
“Let us know what direction you want the city to move toward,” Peck said.
Incumbents Aren Rodriguez and Marcia Martin were also sworn in to serve four-year terms on the council. Martin ran unopposed for her Ward II seat while Shiquita Yarbrough and Rodriguez were the two top vote getters for the two at-large seats on the council.
Shiquita Yarbrough bested the entire field of six to claim the at-large seat on the council, replacing Polly Christensen who was term-limited.
Yarbrough’s supporters cheered through approval when she was sworn in. Yarbrough is the first African-American woman to win a seat on the city council.
After she took her council chair, Yarbrough said she wanted the community to work together to make positive changes in Longmont. “Together we can make an example of what we want to see in Longmont,” Yarbrough said.
Council members also Monday unanimously approved Rodriguez as the Mayor Pro Tem, a position he held for the last two years.
