Easthampton, Mass., has a temporary mayor ready to go, once current-Mayor Nicole LaChapelle departs for a state position on Tuesday.
Easthampton City Council President Salem Derby will serve as mayor from July until this November's elections.
LaChapelle announced the news Friday, days after the state announced the current mayor would become the next Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner.
Derby says whoever wins in November should be ready to start immediately, per charter rules. He spoke during a Wednesday city council meeting, ahead of his decision to serve in the interim.
“I can fairly say that I'm not going to resign from my career to fill an interim position - I just want to be pretty clear about that,” Derby said.
At the time, he said he was still weighing whether or not to fill the role. Derby and the rest of the council had received word of LaChapelle’s pending departure hours earlier.
“… whoever runs in November probably will be signed in pretty soon after that election, because it will be filling, basically, a vacancy,” he continued. “So, they will get a little extra on their term.”
Derby was elected council president earlier this year. Representing Precinct 4, he's considered the body's longest-serving councilor, totaling some two decades.
LaChapelle's chief of staff, Lindsi Sekula, City Councilor At-Large JT Tirrell and resident Robert Laferriere have all taken out papers to run for mayor.
