At its Thursday, January 2 reorganizational meeting, the Martinsville City Council elected LC Jones as mayor and Kathy Lawson as vice mayor.
This is Jones’ second term as mayor and Lawson’s first as vice mayor.
Martinsville Circuit Court Clerk Jeannie Nunn first issued the Oath of Office to new council members Rayshaun Gravely and Julian Mei and the reelected Lawson before calling for nominations for mayor.
Mei nominated Lawson for the mayoral position, which she declined.
Gravely then nominated Jones for the role, which was seconded by Lawson. Council member Aaron Rawls nominated Mei for the mayoral position, which Mei seconded.
Nominations were then closed. Jones then won the mayoral seat with a 3-2 vote. Jones, Gravely, and Lawson cast their votes for Jones, while Rawls and Mei voted for Mei.
After taking his seat as mayor to the applause of the audience, Jones called for nominations for vice mayor.
Rawls nominated Mei, which Mei seconded, and Gravely nominated Lawson, which was seconded by Jones. Nominations were then closed before Lawson won the vice mayor position in a 3-2 vote.
Jones, Gravely, and Lawson voted for Lawson, while Mei and Rawls voted for Mei.
Lawson then moved to the vice mayor’s seat, which is to the right of the mayor. Rawls, who previously served as vice mayor, moved to the far end of the council table.
In other matters, the council:
*Approved the council’s regular meeting schedule as the second and fourth Tuesday of every month except for November and December, which will be on the third Tuesday.
*Heard remarks from each council member. Rawls directed his comments to Lawson.
“It’s an extremely unfortunate tone that we’ve set for this council. If I hadn’t had the messages shared with me – no, I know you well enough I knew that you knew these things anyway. I just want it for the record, it is not meant to bring drama, but I don’t know how to serve the future without making the present known,” he said.
Rawls alleged Lawson supported a person she knows has hurt the community, lied about members of the community, and supported people who have threatened local business owners.
“A five-foot, 100-pound girl has impeded law enforcement operations, has injected himself in inappropriate manners, does not clearly know how to moderate or manage these meetings, you know these things,” Rawls said. “The only thing that I want to note here is you had an opportunity to support someone decent, Julian (Mei), who’s one of the best community advocates we’ve ever had in Martinsville. The only reason I mention this is I don’t want you to go and say, ‘well, I had no idea. I wasn’t there’ because you’ve pulled that card a lot. ‘I had no idea what was going on.’ You knew who this person was when you supported them.”
Noting that he’s grateful to be an elected council member, Mei said he will do everything he can to serve the residents’ interests first and foremost before any other considerations.
“As for remarks previously made up here, I think we could have chartered a different course for the city, but I’m willing to stay on the ship regardless of what course it’s directing, or in whichever direction the ship is going,” he said.
“We have many people within and without looking at us, and I can’t speak for anybody else, but I’m going to set the proper example and I’m going to lead with dignity. I look forward to working with everybody on making our home that we love so much the best possible example, successful government, successful community we can possibly be,” he said.
Gravely firstly thanked God and his family and friends for their support in his campaign.
“I look forward to serving the citizens of Martinsville, as I stated I would from Day One. I told you all I would do my best of my ability in doing whatever is needed to move Martinsville forward, and I would just like to thank you all and the best is yet to come,” Gravely said.
Lawson thanked Jesus, the citizens for the faith they entrusted in her and the fellow council members, her family for their support and the sacrifices they’ve made and will make in their service to Martinsville, her employer and colleagues, and everyone who helped with her campaign.
“Last Sunday, Dr. Christian entitled his sermon ‘How to Begin 2025 with a Clean Slate.’ I thought that is what we as a council and a city need to do to move our city forward. We have the opportunity to bring positivity and progress to our community. We cannot allow negativity to cloud the good works of our citizens, our businesses, and this council,” she said.
Lawson said Martinsville can and will bring forth new programs and projects that will move it forward.
“To our administration and staff: we have a lot of work to do. And I thank you for the opportunity,” Lawson said.
Like Gravely and Lawson, Jones thanked Jesus Christ for providing him and his fellow council members the opportunity to serve Martinsville.
“I want to thank you all for coming out, for taking the time on an early morning to be amongst us in this ceremony. For those of you here and for those who are watching at home, this job on the city council is not an easy job. Campaigning is hard, but actually being up here in these positions and facing the disposition, the disagreements, the agreements sometimes, and not just reaching the satisfaction of your constituents is hard,” he said.
Jones empowered, implored, and asked residents to hold councilmembers accountable, pray for them, be gracious to them, and communicate with them.
“We don’t all make the right decisions even when we all vote the same. It may not be the decision that’s best for all citizens, but for the majority. As we move forward in 2025, I just ask that for all of us on council to move in a direction that moves this city forward in a positive manner,” Jones said.
