City Councilman Daniel T. Brown was elected mayor by his fellow City Council members Monday to serve out the unexpired term of former Mayor Bill Haslam.
Mayor Brown, who represents the city's sixth district, was elected on the 10th ballot during a specially called City Council meeting at 9:30 a.m.; moments after Haslam submitted his resignation to Council.
Haslam will be become Tennessee's 49th governor in Nashville on Saturday. He had been Knoxville's mayor since December of 2003.
Mayor Brown will serve as the city's mayor until December 17, when the newly elected mayor will take office. Former Councilman and current Knox County Magistrate Mark Brown administered the oath of office to Mayor Brown immediately after Brown was chosen to become mayor.
"Let me first of all thank my colleagues for the confidence they have expressed in me. I hope we continue to have a good working relationship," Mayor Brown said.
Brown, a Knoxville native and graduate of Austin High School and Tennessee State University, is serving his first term on Council. A Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Army, he is retired from the U.S. Postal Service.
Brown told Council before the vote that he would continue the city's legacy of fiscal responsibility and was willing to work with Council and city staff concerning issues facing Knoxville.
"I have a feel for the common man and woman in our city and the work that is done to keep moving the city forward," he said.
Monday's meeting was a result of Haslam's victory in the gubernatorial race in November. With his resignation the city's charter required Council to select one of its members to fill the unexpired portion of Haslam's term.
Council determined to allow each member who was interested in becoming the acting mayor to make brief remarks supporting his or her candidacy before the voting. It took five votes to win.
Brown becomes the first African-American mayor of Knoxville and is the 67th man to serve as the city's mayor dating back to Thomas Emmerson, who became the first mayor in 1816. From 1791 until 1816 Knoxville operated under a commission form of government without a mayor.