Gibson said he carefully considered his decision to resign and thinks resigning should be routine following a mayoral election.

&dquo;I do not feel as though I can add any value to the remaining meetings because a &squo;lame duck&squo; mayor immediately loses his credibility and can&squo;t possibly help keep the city moving forward on important issues,&dquo; Gibson said. &dquo;The Mayor has little authority to begin with and totally depends on influencing board members and the public to accomplish anything. The meetings before the official transition are mostly ceremonial in nature and what business is conducted can easily be managed by the city administrator and board of commissioners.&dquo;

Gibson also said that he would have only been sitting there collecting mayor pay and, &dquo;quite frankly, that goes against everything I stand for and tried to accomplish over my 20+ years serving the city.&uot;

Gibson was appointed mayor in October, 2006 by the board of commissioners after former mayor Lee Clippard resigned because he moved outside the city. Gibson then won the 2007 election as mayor, running unopposed. Between his mayor and commissioner service, Gibson served the city for more than 20 years, heavily involved in the city&squo;s water and sewer infrastructure and upgrades through the years. Most of his service was as the city&squo;s water and sewer commissioner.

Baisden will be sworn into office during the December meeting, along with new commissioner George Sweet and incumbent commissioner Johnnie Kinard. They join John Morgan and Leon Morgan.