Thomas Gill, the youngest member of the Langley City Council, is the next man up for city hall’s top job.

The councilman was voted by all four fellow council members to serve as mayor pro tem. More often than not, the role is just a title, but can be accompanied with serious duties in the event Mayor Tim Callison is incapacitated or unable to perform the duties of his elected office. Callison joked that it can’t be invoked just because he is beyond city limits.

Not that long ago, the city’s mayor pro tem was necessary. At the start of 2013, the city’s mayor, Larry Kwarsick, had resigned after pleading guilty to falsifying a public document while he served Langley as its planning director. With the mayor out of office, former Councilman Hal Seligson assumed the responsibilities of running city hall’s day-to-day operations and council meetings for more than a month.

Councilwoman Rene Neff, whom he replaced, nominated him for the role. It carries a two-year term.