After the swearing in ceremonies, council members voted unanimously to re-elect District 5 council member Kevin Pitts to serve as mayor pro tem.
Two-minute impact
Incumbents Ron Garland and Ben Stewart were sworn into the District 4 and District 7 seats, respectively. Newly elected District 3 council member Ben Butler was sworn into office for the first time.
City Secretary Robyn Densmore said canvassed results from the May election show 1,242 votes cast for the District 3 race and 873 votes cast for the District 4 race.
Stewart ran unopposed, meaning his district’s race was canceled prior to election day, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Georgetown City Council consists of seven council members who each serve three-year terms. Additionally, the mayor pro tem acts as the mayor in their absence, according to the city charter.
After being voted back into the mayor pro tem position, Pitts said he looks forward to serving in the role for another year.
What they’re saying
During his opening comments as District 3 council member, Butler thanked the district’s departing representative Mike Triggs, his wife, neighbors, Georgetown voters and current council members.
“Last, I want to thank my God that directs my path,” Butler said. “With that, I’m ready to get to work.”
After being sworn back into office, Garland said he wanted to serve on the City Council again due to the “outstanding leadership” under Mayor Josh Schroeder, City Manager David Morgan and his team, and the City Council.
“We will continue to do the very best as a team to make sure Georgetown is a place where people want to come, they want to live, they want to play, and—in my case—they want to retire,” Garland said.
Butler said when his family moved to Georgetown 13 years ago, they wanted to better understand how the city and schools worked.
“What an honor to be a part of the growth of this city and really trying to drive this city to be a place that my kids want to come back and raise their families,” Butler said. “That’s the driving force for me doing this.”
Stewart thanked his family for supporting him in his role and thanked District 7 residents for being vocal.
“I hope it was appreciation for what I do in this role and not indifference that led me to be unopposed in this cycle,” Stewart said. “I appreciate everybody’s trust and again, I’ll continue to serve as best I can.”
Looking ahead
Departing District 3 council member Mike Triggs urged remaining council members to value city staff, listing Densmore, City Manager David Morgan and others as valuable assets to the department.
“It’s very, very important that we have good city management,” Triggs said. “Make sure you keep them here. They know more about what's going on than we do as council people.”
According to city documents, elected officials’ current terms expire between 2026-28, and can be broken down as:
- Mayor Josh Schroeder: May 2026
- District 1 council member Amanda Parr: May 2027
- District 2 council member Shawn Hood: May 2026
- District 3 council member Ben Butler: May 2028
- District 4 council member Ron Garland: May 2028
- District 5 council member Kevin Pitts: May 2027
- District 6 council member Jake French: May 2026
- District 7 council member Ben Stewart: May 2028
