However, if we want to get technical, if she didn't resign on the Monday before, her votes were invalid. If she did resign, then the question is how did she resume the position as chair of the city council. Show me where it is written that if Royal were to resign right now, we would have no acting mayor. Is the law silent on that issue? It would seem to me that he would forgo his council seat…. or at least, he would not be council president by “default” and that Hoyt would have to assume mayor. If we have a narrow reading of the law, Valerie Abbot should have been mayor for about 9 hours on Tuesday.

I would argue that the results were not valid until the voting period closed (e.g., the recess was over). Is there not some procedure or ritual that the new mayor had to go through?