The St. Joseph City Council resumed business Monday after the death of Deputy Mayor Mike Hirter just more than one week ago.

Members debated various funding requests for more than two hours - one of the longest meetings of the year - before they finally took a big step forward.

The council chose Donna Jean Boyer to fill its vacant deputy mayor position 7-0 Monday.

Mayor Ken Shearin had one hand on the gavel when council member Gary Roach nominated Ms. Boyer for the job. His reason for the nomination: tradition. Though the City Charter does not provide specific guidelines for selecting a deputy mayor, previous councils have chosen the at-large member who received the most votes in the election. Ms. Boyer finished second to Mr. Hirter in the 2006 vote, which put her next in line in Mr. Roach's eyes.

No one disagreed, and the vote was taken with almost no discussion.

"I just have one thing to say, if I can do it without crying," Ms. Boyer said. "I don't want you to think of me taking Mike's place. It's a position that has to be filled."

Ms. Boyer brings four years of experience to the position. She served as deputy mayor in her previous term on the council.

The council also decided on the method it will use to choose a new council member. It will use the same process it used after John Shea's death in July 2005. Interested parties from across the city may submit applications for council approval. The council will review the submissions and conduct interviews before choosing its ninth member.

Council member Joyce Starr was selected to fill Mr. Shea's 2nd District seat in 2005 and was elected to a new term the following year.

Mr. Shearin had called a council work session at 5:30 p.m. today at City Hall to determine how to fill Mr. Hirter's spot on the council and his deputy mayor position.

Mr. Roach said: "I don't want to step on your toes, Ken. I just don't want to have everybody come back here tomorrow when we can do this tonight."

The night's meeting began with a moment of silence for Mr. Hirter, who died July 18. His desk was decorated with symbols of the more than 30 years he served the city. Red, white and blue bunting was draped across his chair, while his police chief's hat, a folded American flag and a copy of the Missouri State Manual sat on his desk.

Before the meeting, council member Barbara LaBass recalled the first time she met Mr. Hirter. She was working at Missouri Gas Energy's office Downtown when she called the police to report a stray dog - on the condition that the dog not go to the pound. The officer who responded to the call happened to be Mr. Hirter, who found the dog a home with another officer.

Ms. LaBass and Mr. Hirter sponsored four bills together that appeared for first reading on Monday's agenda, all focused on making it easier for people to license their pets.

"Mike was quite the animal lover, that's one thing I'll remember," Ms. LaBass said.

Clinton Thomas can be reached at clintonthomas@npgco.com.