The mayor of Granite Shoals is expected to submit a letter of resignation at the regular city council tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 11 after informing councilors he will be moving out of the city limits, officials confirmed. Mayor Will Skinner notified Granite Shoals City Council members of his intent to step down in an email on Thursday, Oct. 6, citing his impending move as the reason.

“The mayor pro tem is selected by the council. When the mayor resigns. The mayor pro tem automatically becomes the mayor,” Granite Shoals city attorney Josh Katz told The Highlander on Oct. 10. “Mr. Aaron Garcia will become the mayor at Tuesday’s (tonight’s) meeting. “He’ll get sworn in by our municipal court judge.” When that occurs, the mayor pro tem seat becomes vacant, so officials will refer to city charter direction which dictates the council has 30 days to appoint a replacement.

The appointee will serve in the seat until the next general election, which, in this case, is May 2023.

In the meantime, Garcia will serve the rest of Skinner’s term, which was up in May.

“They will accept his resignation. They will probably talk about it. Let’s get some nominations, some volunteers from the community, who might be interested in serving the remainder of Mr. Garcia’s council term now that he’ll become mayor,” Katz said. “We’ll talk about how they need to appoint a new mayor pro tem. That’s the last step.”

Despite being elected to a two-year term in May, Garcia will need to run again in 2023 to retain his appointed seat as mayor.

Skinner was mayor pro tem and appointed to mayor in 2020 when former mayor Karl Brugger resigned prior to facing a recall election.

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