Adkins, Latham to lead Gary Common Council after unanimous votes

Gary City Councilwomen Tai Adkins, D-4th, and Lori Latham, D-1st, will lead the Gary Common Council after its members voted unanimously for them as president and vice president, respectively.

The two were selected for their roles during the Gary Common Council’s first meeting of the year, which was held on Tuesday. Adkins, previously elected as the council’s vice president, has been serving as president since the resignation of former council president William Godwin, D-1st, in August, who left to pursue a White House fellowship.

Adkins and Latham are the first all-female council leadership team in recent memory. In 1981, then Councilwoman Earline Rogers became the council’s first female president. She went on to serve in the Indiana House of Representatives and in the state Senate.

Tuesday’s meeting saw just one new face to the Gary common council; Dwayne Halliburton, D-2nd, replaced former councilman David Fossett, whom he defeated in last year’s primary election. Councilman Mark Spencer, D-At Large, joined the council early in October after some shuffling of seats. Godwin, who was elected to represent the 1st District, ran in the At-Large primary race and was unseated by Spencer. Godwin’s resignation triggered a caucus to replace him.

Latham, who was initially selected in a caucus to fill a vacant at-large seat and who ran successfully for the 1st District seat in the primary, was selected to fill Godwin’s vacant seat. This in turn triggered another caucus to fill Latham’s vacant at-large seat, which ultimately selected Spencer.