PLATTSBURGH — In her third year on the City of Plattsburgh’s Common Council, Ward 1 Councilor Julie Baughn has been appointed as mayor pro tem for 2025.
As mayor pro tem, Baughn will have the responsibility of presiding over the council “when the mayor is absent from a council meeting or temporarily unable to perform the duties of mayor due to illness or disability,” according to the City Charter.
Baughn, who took office in January of 2023 and is already the third most tenured councilor currently behind Ward 3’s Elizabeth Gibbs and Ward 4’s Jennifer Tallon, will be learning her new position alongside new Mayor Wendell Hughes.
“Absolutely,” she said when asked if this would be a year of growth and learning for her and Hughes.
“I know Wendell very well, and I do work really well together with him. We’ve talked several times, and I do foresee working with everyone else. Amy (Collin), having Amy on is great. Dave (Monette) is wonderful and of course, Elizabeth and I are really close. We work very closely together. So I am really looking forward to this.”
Unsurprisingly, it was Gibbs who nominated Baughn for the position during their organizational meeting Thursday.
Baughn said the nomination “means a lot.”
“It’s a big responsibility,” she said.
“Although, I don’t foresee Wendell being absent much, if he is, I’m confident with myself that I can do this. With everything that I got through last year, and that was a hard year for me last year, a lot of stuff came up — truths and non truths — it was not a pleasant year. If I can get through that, I know this is going to be a really good year for us.”
Baughn said she’s now hoping to get a sense of camaraderie out of the experience.
“I want everything to be much smoother this year, and like I said, I’m really looking forward to working with them. I think it’s just going to be great. and I think this is going to (get me) … a little bit clearer on the leadership and how I can maybe direct them, and say, ‘OK let’s get together, let’s talk about this,’” she said.
“Because there was a small lack of that, not so much last year, but the year before … nobody talked. We all need to get together and communicate, and whether that be a phone call or an email or even a text, obviously, without breaking open (meetings) law, we need to get together. We all need to be as one and not separate anymore.”
Beyond building that togetherness, finding someone to fill the vacant Ward 2 seat — following Jacob Avery’s resignation late last year — is the most pressing matter of business that needs to be addressed for the council.
Baughn said she does not have anyone in mind for it.
“Mayor Hughes has names that he’s considering, and that’s his job right now,” she said.
“They bring to the table what they have to offer and then we vote from there if we think that he would be (or) she would be a good fit. So we are just looking forward to having that seat filled.”