Northport Council Passes Resolution Electing Hinton Council President

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport City Council on Monday unanimously approved a measure that will see District 3 Councilman John Hinton become the next council president and ultimately the next mayor of Northport, which follows the untimely resignation of Mayor Bobby Herndon at the end of the calendar year.

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The move was an expected one after Patch previously reported that Council President Jeff Hogg — next in the line of succession after the mayor resigns — opted instead to hold on to his council seat by resigning as Council president effective Dec. 29.

This will leave Hinton as council president for only a couple of days, before he ascends to the mayor's office on Jan. 1 by way of being the sitting council president.

As Patch previously reported, Herndon in early November claimed his resignation was prompted by a lack of necessary support on the Council to get a street renamed in front of his personal place of business, despite being warned by other city officials of unfavorable optics and a potential ethics violation if the Council were to move forward with the street renaming.

The decision Monday night, however, was primarily a procedural one. As the city has two signatories for its bank checks, the council president and city administrator, this means the challenges for the city's accounting department would be minimized given the timetable approved Monday.

Hinton does still reserve the ability to resign as council president during the small window in the role, but Hinton accepted the nomination to be council president Monday after already confirming to Patch that he had no plans to opt out of the line of succession, effectively confirming that he will be the next mayor of Northport.

Hinton is a retired assistant superintendent of personnel and general services for the Tuscaloosa County School System and currently serves as minister of music at Northport Baptist Church. He was first appointed to the City Council in January 2019 to fill the vacancy and later won a full term in 2020.

As Patch previously reported, a vacancy will also need to be filled for the District 3 seat if and when Hinton ascends to the city's highest office.

Per state law, when a council vacancy occurs in municipalities the size of Northport, the remaining council members have 60 days to appoint a new representative from the district in question.

The next steps on this — such as a formal application process — have yet to be discussed by the City Council.

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