Last vote was against study of pay hike for council members

Judi-ann Rutherford’s last vote as a member of the Peachtree City Council was a no vote against the exploration of increasing salaries for city council members.

Rutherford announced at the very end of tonight’s meeting that she was resigning effective July 31 to move to Holland. She told The Citizen that she is moving there to be with her husband, who relocated there nine months ago for his job.

Incidentally, the measure to explore salary increases for council members passed 4-1. But Rutherford’s announcement stole the show, as she first thanked city staff for their hard work during her three and a half year tenure.

After her announcement, Councilman Stuart Kourajian thanked Rutherford for her service, and the small crowd of citizens who stayed right up to the 11 p.m.-ish end of the meeting broke out in a standing ovation in appreciation of Rutherford.

During the break after the open session before council convened in executive session, Rutherford wiped a few tears from her eyes. Judging by the reaction from her fellow council members, Rutherford kept a pretty good secret: it appeared that all four were caught by surprise.

When someone asked what the process would be to fill Rutherford’s seat, which is up for grabs in the November election, City Manager Bernie McMullen said he was too stunned to be able to recall the process off the top of his head.