Judi-ann Rutherford, who quit

her job as office manager of the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater on Friday

so she could legally accept her position on the City Council three days

later, was unanimously elected mayor pro tem by the other councilmen Monday

night, just moments after taking the council oath of office.

But it almost didn't happen.

When Mayor Steve Brown presented

the item of business calling for the election of the mayor pro-tem, who

essentially substitutes for the mayor in the event he is absent from city

business, the council was silent.

Stuart Kourajian, also newly

sworn in and making his first official motion, took the lead and nominated

Rutherford, who appeared surprised but remained silent.

Kourajian's motion died

for lack of a second.

Councilman Murray Weed then

questioned whether the city needed a Mayor Pro-Tem at all.

"We've got a pretty

healthy and dependable mayor," Weed said, referring to Brown. "Do

we really need this position? The fact that nobody seems to want it suggests

so. I know I don't want it."

Brown started to ask Weed if

he were willing to make a motion to that effect, when Councilman Steve

Rapson interrupted.

"I have a question,"

Rapson said, turning to Rutherford sitting on his left. "Judi-ann,

do you want to be mayor pro-tem?"

The no-nonsense Rutherford

shrugged and replied, "Sure, I'll gladly accept it, if you elect

me."

"Well, in that case, I

make a motion," Weed quickly jumped in, changing his course.

Rapson seconded and the appointment

passed, 4-0. Rutherford took her second oath of the night, the one for

mayor pro-tem, with Brown administering.

Later, Rapson confessed he

hesitated to second Kourajian's original motion to elect Rutherford

only because he didn't know if she would welcome the job.

The post was previously held

Kourajian.

MUSICAL CHAIRS: Rutherford

and Weed were sitting in new spots on the council platform Monday night,

with Weed now at the far left-hand side and Rutherford on the far-right.

That's a bit confusing,

since in the past the council sat in order of their elected posts: Posts

1 and 2 on the left, and 3 and 4 on the right with the mayor stationed

in the middle.

Technically, Weed represents

Post 4 and Rutherford Post 1. But the "post" designations, Rutherford

pointed out after the meeting, mean nothing as far as who each of the

four elected officials represent.

"Where is the post? Show

me the post," she joked with attendees.

And who was responsible for

the switcheroo? Again, Rutherford took the credit, explaining that she

called up Mayor Brown Monday and suggested a "visual" shuffling

was in order.

"Think about it,"

she said. "If Stuart and I had just sat in Dan (Tennant) and Annie's

(McMenamin) old seats, nothing would have changed, not even gender. We

needed to make the impression that we're a council of change."

Rutherford blew off a suggestion

that the new seating chart was just an attempt to "break up"

Rapson and Murray, who previously sat next to one another to the right

of the mayor, and who are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of

the new Peachtree City Tourism Association Board of Directors.

"It just looks better,"

she said.

KIND REGARDS: Mitch Powell

served as municipal judge in Peachtree City for 12 years until he was

passed over for reappointment in December after his fee proposal for 2004

was too high. Monday night, he was honored for his long tenure, which

Mayor Brown said was completed without one complaint from anyone coming

before his court.

"That's just remarkable,"

Brown declared, to which Powell replied:

"In those same years,

I also saw another remarkable thing: I never had anyone on a city council

or at City Hall attempt to interfere with the court, like you sometimes

hear about, and I'm thankful for that."

Powell, who is also the attorney

for Coweta County, will be replaced as the city's chief judge by

Eric Maxwell.

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