First female mayor of Richmond Hill takes oath of office

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The City of Richmond Hill held a swearing-in ceremony for the new mayor, who is also the city’s first female mayor.

Tuesday night, Incoming Mayor Kristi Cox took her oath of office to mark the start of her term. She also used the ceremony to share some of her goals as mayor.

Mayor Cox says she wants to focus on infrastructure, especially as it relates to stormwater drainage. She also wants to focus on public safety, taxes and better communication with the people who live in Richmond Hill. She says better communication includes streaming more city meetings online and giving residents more opportunities to meet with her.

“We are going to set up different time frames for people to actually come in,” said Mayor Cox. “It will be any question you want to ask. Anything you want to discuss. I’m an open book. And I’m also looking at potentially doing some lives on Facebook and giving people the opportunity to ask questions.”

Mayor Cox says she also wants to work with city council members to look at what’s working and what’s not when it comes to policies and procedures. This includes addressing tax increases and the controversial Richmond Hill-Bryan County airport project.

During Tuesday night’s ceremony, new council members Cindy Hatala and Kevin Bowes also took the oath of office. Outgoing mayor Russ Carpenter also shared parting words. And the council did vote to table electing a new mayor pro tem. City leaders say this will give them more time to discuss the decision.

The City of Richmond Hill has nearly 18,000 residents.