A familiar face is filling the vacant seat on the Henderson City Commission.
The commission Tuesday afternoon unanimously approved the appointment of former commissioner Austin Vowels for the seat left vacant after Nick Whitt resigned last month because he and his family are moving to a house outside of city limits.
Vowels previously served as a commissioner from 2017-2024.
In comments to the Hendersonian he said his job when filling the final five months of Whitt’s term is to focus on making the everyday quality of life better for people in Henderson.
He did say that there are some specific issues he’d like to visit in his five months. For one, he said he’d like to look at an ordinance for golf carts on city streets.
There has been some discussion of this at city commission meetings, but thus far, the commission has not adopted any new measures related to golf carts.
He also said he’d like to take a look at some of the management at the city. At the end of Vowels’ city commission tenure, heads of several departments retired and new heads were hired. He said he wants to ensure that departments are running like a “well-oiled machine.”
He additionally said there would probably be other issues that come up as the months pass.
In remarks to the commission after his appointment, Vowels said that after his term ended in 2024, he doesn’t think the commission has “missed a single beat since I’ve been gone.”
He added that he believes the current state of the city is the best it’s ever been and referenced the myriad projects the city is pursuing mentioned by Henderson Mayor Brad Staton in his State of the City speech last week.
Staton on Tuesday said there were a lot of good people who were considered to fill the vacancy but said that when learning the commissioner’s role, there can be a 3-to-6-month learning curve. The commission needed someone to jump in and hit the ground running on day one, he said.
“I couldn’t think of anyone better,” the mayor said.
Commissioners all welcomed him back. Both Rodney Thomas and Robert Pruitt spent years on the commission with Vowels while Kelsey Hargis took over Vowels’ role as mayor pro tem with the most votes in the 2024 general election.
“Austin has already demonstrated his commitment to this community through years of public service,” said Thomas in a city release. “He understands the challenges and opportunities facing our city, and I believe he’ll be able to step in on day one and continue moving Henderson forward. I think he’s a great choice for this appointment.”
Vowels is the founder and managing attorney of Vowels Law PLC in Henderson. He is also a co-founder of Henderson Brewing Co. and remains active in many civic and professional organizations, according to the release.
