City Council Organizational Meeting
Council will nominate officers (Council President and Vice President), consider City Council rules (2026-002) with a planned Addendum L revision, review 2026–2027 meeting schedules, and accept resignations/announce vacancies for the School Committee and the Library Board of Trustees.
The City Council held its organizational meeting following the inauguration. Councilor Jessica Redfern and Councilor Steven Stanganelli were nominated for Council President; after brief comments by each nominee a roll-call vote elected Councilor Jessica Redfern as City Council President by a 7-2 vote (Councilors Welch, Gilday, Haggstrom, Mandeville, Frederique, Sullivan and Redfern). Councilor Amanda Haggstrom was nominated and unanimously elected City Council Vice President 9-0 after offering brief remarks.
The Council voted unanimously (9-0) to accept the Amesbury City Council Fifteenth Session Rules and Procedures and to refer them to the City Council for review. The Council also unanimously accepted the 2026 and 2027 meeting schedules as presented. President Redfern declared a vacancy on the School Committee due to Councilor Maryann Welch’s resignation; a special joint meeting of the City Council and School Committee to elect a replacement will be scheduled. President Redfern also declared a vacancy on the Library Board of Trustees due to a failure to elect at the November 2025 local election and directed that a 30-day call for candidates to be posted on the city’s website. There was no substantive public debate recorded on these items beyond the nominee comments and standard motions and votes.