councilor

Another figure who has been mentioned for a top job is Daniel Garodnick, a former city councilor who was heavily involved in outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’s “City of Yes” initiative to spur new housing development.

“The primary school is full, in fact an extension has just been built,” said Bill Lobban, a local councilor.

But then again, even in Shelby County, Roberts used a case that began when a small Alabama city redistricted a Black councilor out of office —on maps that had not been precleared with the government — as his vehicle to end preclearance and pronounce a new day of sunny racial harmony.

His prior public service, as councilor, then deputy mayor, of a Sydney suburb ended abruptly in 2009 amid displays of undiplomatic temper.

But tourism councilor Simone Venturini was shocked that anyone might be upset that such a high-profile event was happening in the city.