Activists who live outside Aberdeen and galvanized voters to reject a proposed 500-acre annexation will advise newly elected Mayor Mike Bennett as members of his transition team.
Other members of the 28-member team include two city residents who sued the town over a similar annexation plan and several City Council candidates who lost this month?s election.
“They will be able to give an unbiased opinion on what?s working well … and what isn?t,” Bennett said.
The team will report to him in mid-January on “where we are and where we need to go” with the town?s police, administration, budget and infrastructure, Bennett said.
Art Helton, who backed Bennett and some of the losing council candidates, will chair the group. Bennett says he is tapping Helton for his experience as a state senator and local developer.
Others were chosen for their passion about Aberdeen and their expertise in areas they?re studying, Bennett said.
Former Mayor S. Fred Simmons, however, thought members of the diverse group could have personal agendas.
“There are more misfits on that transition team than the bar scene from Star Wars ? one adviser for every five employees, each adviser with an ax to grind,” Simmons wrote in response to e-mailed questions.
The group signifies the first step in Bennett?s vow to switch to a government that involves the mayor less directly in daily operations.
Simmons made it his full-time job. Bennett plans to guide the town through policy decisions, making City Hall the first stop on the way home from his full-time job as head of the State Police Electronic Systems Division.
Transition team members are not paid, and the group is to disband after the January report, Helton said.
