Jacksonville City Council adds Aaron Scott to 4th Ward

By Gary Scott on May 24, 2016 at 6:29am

Aaron Scott is sworn in by City Clerk Skip Bradshaw.

Jacksonville’s City Council now features two aldermen with the last name of Scott.

In addition to Bill Scott, Mayor Andy Ezard announced Aaron Scott will replace Ben Tomhave, who resigned earlier this year due to a residency change, in the fourth ward, during last night’s meeting.

Ezard thinks Aaron Scott will be a good addition to the council.

“He’s always asked questions of me on a personal note, why we did this or why we did that, and I just saw this as an opportunity, he wanted to be involved, and this was a perfect avenue for him,” says Ezard.

Scott was born and raised in Jacksonville. We talked to him after last night’s meeting.

“Kind of been interested in it for a while, and the chance came up, and I’m glad to take the opportunity to see what it’s all about,” says Scott.

Reporter: “Anything specifically that you’re interested in, in terms of what you think the City of Jacksonville needs, or stuff that you’ll take personal interest in upon being an alderman?”

Scott: “Not really sure yet, I need to kind of get into it and get my feet wet a little bit. A lot to learn in a short amount of time here, and I’ll move forward from there.

There was limited action last night. Aldermen approved a resolution regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline being constructed in Illinois. City Attorney Dan Beard said the pipeline needed city approval because it intersected with the Jacksonville water transmission line in Scott County.

Aldermen also approved a request to hire one probationary hoseman from the Jacksonville Fire Department.

Council member Lori Large Oldenettel had the item pulled from the consent agenda to clarify if the hire was to fill an anticipated vacancy in the department. City Attorney Beard said aldermen can revisit hiring a second firefighter after the retirement. The item passed unanimously.