Bullhead City council directs staff to prepare paper-ballot process to pick temporary mayor

The Bullhead City Council directed staff on April 7 to prepare an April 21 agenda item using a paper-ballot process to select a temporary mayor for the remainder of the 2026 election cycle, after weeks of discussion about whether to fill an open council seat.

City Manager Toby Cotter told the council that Arizona’s resign-to-run framework and local code require the city to have a mayor in office and outlined several options the council could use to pick a mayor temporarily, including a paper ballot by elimination or a rotation. Cotter said the clerk would read each council member’s written nomination aloud when the ballots are opened.

Council members expressed different views during the discussion. Several members said they did not want to appoint a new seventh council member for the short remaining term and preferred leaving that seat empty. Councilmember Pam (functional label) suggested a monthly rotation of acting mayor by alphabetical order but several colleagues opposed that plan as confusing for the public. Others said the vice mayor could continue to perform duties in the interim.

A recurring point of concern was whether council members who are actively running in the upcoming election should be eligible to serve as acting mayor, since incumbency visibility could be seen as an advantage. Cotter noted the distinction between elected incumbents and appointees and said the council could set eligibility criteria when it brings the selection forward; later in the meeting the council indicated a consensus to exclude members running in the current election from eligibility when staff prepare the item.

No final mayoral appointment was made at the April 7 meeting; the council’s direction was procedural only. The paper-ballot selection and any formal eligibility rules will be on the first agenda item at the April 21 regular meeting where a vote could be taken.