Dunbar City Council members narrowly selected Bill Cunningham to be the city's new mayor on Monday night.
Community members packed into council chambers to see who of the 10 applicants council members selected. Cunningham, who currently is a member of the council, won with four votes from the eight-member council.
"I have a love for this city, even though I was raised in St. Albans," Cunningham said. "I have to say it, because this was the last place I wanted to come to until I got here."
Cunningham, the city's former building inspector and a current city volunteer, previously told the Gazette-Mail he supports the Shawnee Park sports complex and wants the city to repurpose some of its land to give people a reason to want to come to Dunbar while they're in the area visiting the sports complex.
Cunningham's election came after council members nominated three people to be elected. The two other people who council members nominated were Mike Scipio and Craig Hudson, both of whom already are members of the council.
Three members voted for Scipio - Harold Craigo, Connie Thompson and himself. Hudson won only one vote - he voted for himself.
"Those nine others will be the first ones on my list to be called on to step up and come in and get involved in my administration," Cunningham said. "They all had good ideas. They showed things of interest for the city, and I think those are the key people to go to. From that cadre of people, you can build an army of people."
The city's now-former mayor, Terry Greenlee, stepped down from his post to take on a leadership role with the state Alcohol Beverage Control Administration. He started at the ABCA earlier this month, and council members quickly kicked off the hunt for his replacement.
Greenlee, who is a Democrat, was first elected in 2013 and then was re-elected in the city's June election. His resignation was effective Aug. 5, and since then, Councilman Steve Arnott has filled in as the city's interim mayor.
Cunningham said that he would need to take the oath of office sometime before Sept. 5 because the city's charter only allows for an interim mayor to be in office for 30 days.
The seven other people who applied to be mayor were: Lanny R. Coberly Sr., the pastor of a Dunbar church; Mark Halburn, the operator of a Putnam County news website; former councilman Dana K. Hayes; Virginia Nesselrotte, a Verizon retiree, private art teacher and former candidate for city council; Sierra Sovine, a former candidate for city council; Lisa M. Wilkinson; and former mayor Jack Yeager.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, Facebook.com/newsroomjake, 304-348-7939 or @NewsroomJake on Twitter.