NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport City Council on Monday voted 3-1 to appoint Anwar Aiken to fill the vacant District 5 seat on the council.
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As Patch previously reported, Aiken was one of three finalists interviewed for the seat last week, along with Tuscaloosa County School System Chief School Financial Officer Danny Higdon and retired Tuscaloosa Police Captain Gary Leddo.
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“I really hate that we were put in this position to appoint someone … I feel like this puts us in a bad spot because we don’t represent District 5,” said District 4’s Jaime Dykes, who was the lone vote in opposition to Aiken’s appointment and lamented that an election was not held.
A public records request by Patch last month revealed a total of nine candidates applied to fill the seat, with the council narrowing down the list to three finalists ahead of the interviews.
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Aiken will now fill out the remainder of the unexpired term for the seat vacated by former City Council President Jeff Hogg, who resigned in March following public backlash and alleged threats after the City Council voted to enter a public-private partnership agreement for a proposed $350 million mixed-use resort off of Harper Road.
Originally from Minden, Louisiana, Aiken and his wife first moved to Tuscaloosa before moving to Northport a decade ago to raise their family and start their business — one that was named Northport’s Business of the Month in early March.
During his interview for the seat last week, Aiken and the other two candidates each cited concerns over the proposed University Beach project.
“There’s unrest in the community amongst the city and the people because I don’t guess they feel like they’ve been heard,” he told the Council, before pointing to improved lines of communication for City Hall and the people they serve, along with transparency, when asked about the three biggest issues facing the city. “I don’t understand the project. I didn’t understand when it happened, I don’t know anything and people don’t know anything.”
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One of the final questions asked during his interview last week was if each candidate would run for election in 2025 and Aiken confirmed to Patch that he plans to run for election to the seat in 2025 after being appointed.
Aiken is the second council member appointed to a seat during this term, which followed the gubernatorial appointment of District 3’s Karl Wiggins after John Hinton ascended to the mayor’s office in the wake of the resignation of former mayor Bobby Herndon at the end of 2022.
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