Jim Baskett the New Decatur Mayor

The new mayor of Decatur is Jim Baskett, who has served on the Decatur City Commission since 1995 and been the mayor pro tem the last 10 years. 

The meeting started at 7:30 p.m. and the process only took about two minutes. Kecia Cunningham nominated him and Patti Garrett seconded. They and Fred Boykin voted in favor.

Cunningham was picked mayor pro tem by a 3-0 vote. Baskett nominated her and Boykin seconded the nomination.

Seniority prevailed, with Baskett and Cunningham now being the commissioners with the most and the second-most years on the board.

Baskett will take the place of Bill Floyd, who served as mayor 14 years. Floyd announced last month that he'd resign, effective Monday, to take a job with a consulting firm.

In Decatur, voters pick four city commissioners by district and one at-large. (Baskett is the at-large member.) The commission then picks one of their own to serve as mayor during the first meeting of the year.

The commission is expected to call for a March 19 special election to fill Floyd's vacant seat.

This is what the Decatur city website says about Baskett:

As Commissioner he has served on the Taskforces for Greenspace, Infill Housing, and Scottish Rite redevelopment, Preservation Corridor and the Woodlands Committee. 

Jim is a Founder of the DeKalb Library Foundation and served as chair of the DeKalb County Library System Board of Trustees. He is a graduate of Leadership DeKalb and the Regional Leadership Institute and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Decatur First Bank.  He served on the Board of Directors of Our House, Inc., Leadership DeKalb, and is a past president of the South Candler Street Neighborhood Association.  

After graduating from The Candler School of Theology, he studied social ethics and political thought at Emory University. Jim and his wife, Mickey, live in the historic South Candler district and can be seen around town driving their electric GEM car.