“He’s been elected nine times, he’s never been beaten and I doubt he ever will,” Chesshir said.
At that point Chesshir said he had resigned as mayor of Beeville and that he would be recommending the man who had been his mayor pro tem for the past 13 years to replace him, at least until the May 12 meeting when the council will reorganize following the May 9 elections in Wards 1 and 5.
Seconds after Chesshir nominated Fulghum for the job Councilman Jimbo Martinez asked for some discussion on the matter.
“I have some thoughts on that,” Martinez said and he made a motion that the nominations be suspended until he and others had spoken. The motion was seconded and Councilman David Carabajal voted with Martinez and Scotten to allow some discussion.
Martinez said his concern was not personal but when he voted a year ago to make Chesshir mayor, he thought Chesshir would be serving the entire one-year term.
“I’m having a hard time knowing why it has to be done now,” Martinez said of the reorganization.
“John will still be on the council and will have a chance to be mayor,” Martinez said. “I’ve already picked my mayor for this year and that was you,” he told Chesshir.
Carabajal then said that if Chesshir desires not to be mayor, “We all need to respect that decision.”
“If I’d know this was going to happen last May, I’d have nominated John myself,” Martinez said.
City Attorney Frank Warner then told the council that Chesshir had turned in a letter of resignation a week earlier.
“We can’t reject his wish,” Warner said. “It’s his perogative.”
Martinez then made a motion to table the reorganization until a later meeting but only he and Scotten voted for the motion.
After Chesshir, Fulghum and Carabajal voted against tabling the reorganization Warner accepted nominations again.
Martinez and Councilman Mike Scotten both said they would abstain from voting on the issue.
Fulghum then was elected mayor with votes coming from Chesshir, Carabajal and himself.
“This moment is the highlight of my life,” Fulghum said after being elected.
“I’m going to give it my all. I’ll take the title of mayor very seriously. Once I walk out that door tonight I will have many more responsibilities.”
Fulghum said he wanted to retain his seat on the Beeville Economic Improvement Corporation board, wants to serve on the Bee Development Authority board and said he wants to schedule a workshop session of the City Council to discuss goals for the city.
Scotten and Martinez both said they respected Fulghum and reminded him that while they did not vote for him to be mayor, they also did not vote against him. They said their opposition to the reorganization was not personal.
Carabajal said he had known Fulghum for about a year and said that if he has worked as hard as he has in this last year, “I can’t imagine his hard work in the previous eight terms.”
When nominations were taken for mayor pro tem Chesshir nominated Carabajal but Carabajal nominated Martinez.
Martinez declined to accept the nomination so Carabajal nominated Scotten. But Scotten also turned down the nomination, leaving Carabajal as the only nominee. When the vote was taken, Carabajal was elected to the position by the same margin.
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