What is a Mayor Pro Tem? What responsibilities do they typically have?
A Mayor Pro Tempore is someone who acts as the Mayor when there is no Mayor, or when they Mayor is incapacitated or unavailable for one reason or another. For all intensive purposes, they have all of the powers of a Mayor. When the Council appoints a Mayor Pro Tempore, they may set limitations on their executive powers, or there may be limitations laid out in the Town’s Charter. And yes, the Town Clerk’s Office is the place to go for answers to these questions. Be very pleasant, and hopefully someone there will help you find this answer. But be warned, some town clerk’s office employees are not the most trained or educated people, so you may have to get specific. Ask for the Charter and look for the section covering the position of the Mayor, or a special section on Mayor Pro Temp. Or ask to see the minutes of the meeting where the Mayor Pro Temp was appointed. If their contract was established in confidential executive session, then you would have to provide a written FOI request to t
