The city of Langley started 2024 with some changes in elected leadership.

Kennedy Horstman was sworn in as the new mayor during the first city council meeting of the year. Chris Carlson, who was elected to position 3 on the council, was also sworn in, as well as Craig Cyr, who was re-elected to his seat.

There was some disagreement about who on the council should serve as mayor pro tem, who facilitates city council meetings in the event that the mayor is unavailable or incapacitated.

Cyr, who had previously been the mayor pro tem, nominated himself to serve in the role for the next two years. He said he has been honored to serve and cited his experience as his reason why he put his name forward. Councilmember Harolynne Bobis supported his candidacy, but she was the only one to do so.

In the interest of some turnover and different people learning new skills, Councilmember Gail Fleming nominated Councilmember Rhonda Salerno to serve as mayor pro tem. She added that Salerno is the council’s “resident parliamentarian” and always does so much research on how to conduct everything.

Carlson agreed that having the position rotate in alignment with council terms makes a lot of sense and seems fair.

Salerno made a case for female representation in leadership roles on the council.

Since Cyr’s nomination failed to get enough votes, Salerno’s passed in a 4-1 vote, with Bobis voting in opposition.